Reminiscent of their first kiss
by chesney924
Summary: Things have moved on since Cristina asked Owen he was sure, and now he has to step up, and support her through a massive change in her personal and professional life.
1. Chapter1 Reminiscent of their first kiss

**This is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction, although I am an avid reader, and is a fluffy story about Cristina and Owen. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. The story is set two weeks after the end of season 6 E10, and assumes that Owen knows about what Cristina went through with Burke.**

**This is just for fun, I do not own anything, and all copyright remains the property of Shondra Rimes etc.**

Reminiscent of their first kiss.

Cristina was freaking out. She knew that Owen had said that he was with her because he wanted to be, because he loved her. She knew that in the two weeks since that conversation on New Years day, that he had been attentive, that he had held her in his arms every night he was not on call, that he made beautiful love to her, but she still had doubts.

When Cristina had asked Owen if he was sure, her toes curled with the intensity of the kiss that he had given her, but he had not verbally said he was sure, and despite not wanting to read anything negative into that, all he had had to do was say yes, and he failed to do that.

Cristina was competitive, everyone knew that, she aced all the tests, and won all the contests, but she didn't feel that she should have to "win" the man that she loved, and she had to be sure that he was in this for the long haul before she shared with him, her newly acquired knowledge. She wrapped up the pregnancy test she was holding inside a bag, and hid it at the bottom of the bin. Why now thought Cristina, why has he knocked me up, just when my future at SGH is in doubt, and just when for the first time I have doubts about his commitment to me.

Cristina put on her coat, and leaving the apartment, walked across the street to the hospital.

Hey Cristina, called Meredith, you had better get your skates on or you will be late for rounds, and Bailey is not in a good mood today. Well that makes two of us, snarked Cristina, as she walked briskly towards the residents locker room to get changed into her scrubs.

Cristina was a little distracted throughout rounds, but managed to stay under Baileys radar. As soon as rounds were completed , Cristina assigned her interns to various tasks before escaping to the 4th floor, where OBGYN was located.

Hello, Cristina said to the receptionist. I was wondering if I could make an appointment for a consultation, I worked downstairs, so I can bob up as soon as you have a timeslot free . The receptionist who was wearing a name tag with the name Clare on it, consulted her computer screen, and advised her that there was an appointment available at 12.15, Cristina accepted the appointment, and proceeded to give her details to Clare.

Owen was in OR 2 for several hours dealing with the victim of a hit and run car accident, so fortunately Cristina did not have to avoid him prior to her appointment, as despite her suspicions over the last few days, the absolute knowledge that she was carrying his child, had instantly changed everything, and Cristina knew in her heart that she could not continue her relationship with Owen with the doubts that she had been harbouring for the last two weeks.

At 12.00 sharp, Cristina took the elevator to the 4th floor, and approached Clare, to advise her that she was there for her appointment. Clare called over one of the nurses on duty, who escorted Cristina to a consultation room. Cristina waited for no more than a couple of minutes before her OBGYN entered the room and introduced himself as Dr James Evans. Cristina introduced herself, shook James' hand, and launched into her list of concerns.

Dr Evans, started Cristina , I don't know if you have had an opportunity to look at my history, but I had an entopic pregnancy 3 years ago, so I am really concerned that if this pregnancy ends the same way, that I won't ever be able to have children, which is a bit weird, because if I am honest, I did not even know I wanted a baby until the test was positive.

Dr Evans smiled, "I have looked over your notes, and see that Dr Montgomery looked after you, and had to remove one of your fallopian tubes, however, one entopic pregnancy, does not mean that you cannot have a trouble free pregnancy this time. The details that Clare took state that you are unsure of your dates, is that correct?" Yes replied Cristina, I'm afraid that I have never been regular, and stopped keeping a calendar of my periods sometime ago. I only really suspected that I was pregnant, because I started with morning sickness, breast tenderness, and had to pee every time I passed a bathroom. Cristina smiled sadly.

Right stated Dr Evans, lets start by doing an ultrasound, it should give us an indication of when your baby is due, and let us see if your fallopian tube is clear.

Cristina was led to another room where the ultrasound machine was already waiting, she jumped on the examination table, and adjusted her scrubs, so that Dr Evans could access her abdomen. The gel may be a little cold Cristina, stated Dr Evans, and Cristina gasped a little as the cold liquid hit her. Dr Evans moved the wand across Cristina, and after looking at the screen for some time, took a picture, and asked Cristina to join him back in his consulting rooms.

Once she had rearranged her clothes, and walked back to Dr Evans office, Cristina sat down nervously. Ok Cristina, started Dr Evans, first of all, I am going to prescribe you some prenatal vitamins, which I want to start taking immediately. The scan indicates that you are about seven weeks pregnant, and although the baby is developing well, it has not yet fully descended into the uterus, so I would like to do a more detailed scan in 1 weeks time. Cristina remained silent, this was not what she wanted to hear. Don't panic Cristina, said Dr Evans, this is not unusual for a seven week foetus, lets do the further scan next week, and we can make a decision then, if there is still an issue. What do you mean, make a decision? Said Cristina. Well if the baby is still not in the correct place, we can decide if we should wait a bit longer, or end the pregnancy to ensure that your fallopian stays in tact for the chance of a future pregnancy. Cristina felt a lump in her throat, that swallowing would not get rid of. Cristina Yang did not cry, she did not pine to be a mother, did not panic, and here she was doing all three, and despite trying to stop herself, she could not stem the flow of tears down her face.

Dr Evans got up from his seat, and gave her a tissue. Really Cristina, it is far too soon to be worrying. We are aware of your history and will be keeping a close eye on you and your baby. Cristina calmed a little, and looked up. Dr Evans smiled, and said to her, are you OK? Is there someone I can call to come and sit with you? Perhaps the father? No I will be fine. The baby's Dad does not know yet, I really don't want him to know until I am sure that this is a viable pregnancy, sighed Cristina. Are you sure, he replied, this is a lot to be dealing with alone. Absolutely, after all, it is only for a week right, Cristina gave him a weak smile, before standing up, getting ready to leave. Cristina, shouted Dr Evans, "yes" she replied, we are going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next few weeks, so call me James. Thank you James, said Cristina closing the door behind her.

Cristina collected her vial of vitamins, and completed the remainder of her shift in a daze. At the end of her shift, Cristina went back to the residents locker room, and headed for the shower. She showered slowly, shampooing her hair, with her lavender shampoo. Usually she waited to shower until she got home, but tonight she did not want to share her shower with Owen, she wanted some privacy, to be alone with her own thoughts, and alone with her already changing body.

Owen looked up from the cooker when he heard the door close. Hi he said, walking towards Cristina and dropping a short kiss on her lips. Hi yourself she replied, what are you cooking? Just some spaghetti, and sauce, but it will be about 20 minutes if you want to go shower. Oh that's OK, I showered at the hospital today, that is why I am a little bit late, she said. OK replied Owen I will go and shower alone, unless you want to come keep me company just for fun? Cristina gave him a small smile, and said, why don't I get drinks, and set the table while you shower, and then we can eat, I am starving. Fine he said, I will be back in ten minutes.

Owen drained the spaghetti, and stirred in the sauce he had prepared before serving it to Cristina, who was sipping what appeared to be a vodka and tonic. I missed you at work today, said Owen. Me too replied Cristina, I bobbed to see you for morning coffee, but you were in surgery, and from then on, my day was really busy. How did your surgery on the hit and run victim go? She tried to divert the conversation away from where she had been during the day. He survived surgery, but the next 48 hours are going to be critical. If he survives I will be operating again, to do permanent repairs to his liver lacerations. Owen then continued telling her about his surgeries that day.

Cristina had successfully diverted Owen onto a neutral topic, and they chatted about work for about an hour before Cristina suppressed a yawn. Owen, I am really tired, I am going to turn in early, sorry if I have not been very good company, she said. Its fine, I will come with you, replied Owen getting up from the couch. I will just load the dishwasher, and I will be right behind you.

Cristina undressed in double quick time, pulled on her flannel pyjama pants, and a baggy tee shirt before jumping into bed. Tonight, for once, she did not want Owen watching her undress, she did not want to torture him with her lacy matching underwear and shortie chemise nightdresses, and did not want him touching her. She needed some time out, to decided how she was going to tell him, or indeed if she was going to tell him, and she knew when he touched her, that her resolve weakened.

Owen came into the room, and Cristina kept her eyes closed while he prepared for bed, faking sleep. He climbed into bed, and flicked off the lights. Owen shuffled towards Cristina, and as usual reached for her, so that he could hold her against him. Cristina allowed Owens arms to stay around her for a couple of minutes before rolling away from him towards the edge of the bed, with her back to him. Cristina is everything OK? asked Owen. I'm fine, I am just really tired she replied. Ok, sleep well then. I love you Cristina, he whispered before rolling onto his back, and staring at the ceiling.

Owen did not sleep well that night, Cristina was acting strange. She rarely got tired, being constantly wired by the vast amounts of coffee she drank, she usually opted for beer or wine with dinner, but tonight, seemed to be hitting the vodka, and she liked to snuggle up to him in bed, usually with her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat. He wondered if he had a procedure that he could have picked her for, but favoured someone else, but he didn't think so, besides it was not Cristina's style to brood quietly, she preferred a head on attack. He sighed before trying to get a few hours sleep, after all everyone says that the path of true love never runs smoothly.

And so it began. Days of avoidance tactics, Cristina rising early, and locking the bathroom door, so that Owen could not walk in while she was retching over the toilet pan. Showering alone, so that he did not see her naked, as she was convinced that her breasts were already bigger, and that there was a curve to her usually flat belly, and making excuses to go to bed alone, so that his hands did not explore her as she lay in his arms. To be honest she missed sleeping cuddled up to him, but it was easier to be at the edge of the bed, in case she had to dash to the bathroom in the night, which was becoming more frequent,. She was counting the days until her next appointment with James, she needed to know if her baby was ok, if she was going to be a Mum before she comprehend the idea of if Owen wanted to be a Dad. To be fair he was always good with the kids that came into the ER, but because Cristina had never really pictured herself with children, it was not a conversation that she and Owen had ever had.

Eventually six days had passed, and although Owen was distraught, at how much Cristina was withdrawing from him, he was also determined that he was going to fight for her irrespective of how hard he had to fight. Cristina had said to Owen that he and Teddy had been through a war together, but in Owens's mind, the only person who had been through war with him was Cristina. She gave him second chances that he did not deserve, she loved him, when he could not even love himself, and she held him and comforted him, when he had hurt her, and she fought for him, and with him, protecting him from her friends, the hospital gossip, and his own fears. Cristina was his heroine, and it was with this thought in mind that he entered the cafeteria on the day before Cristina's scan appointment with James, hoping to have lunch with his somewhat semi detached girlfriend., hoping to try and get things back on track.

Hi Meredith, have you seen Cristina? Asked Owen. A bemused Meredith answered from the food line, that she had told Bailey that she was sick, and needed to go home. Meredith was surprised that this was news to Owen, and was even more surprised when without saying a further word, he turned and ran out of the place with the food. Owen did not stop to change, he merely pulled his jacket on, checking that his door keys were in the pocket. He continued running out of the hospital, and across the road to the apartment, where he quietly let himself in.

Owen found Cristina asleep in the bedroom. She did look pale, even for Cristina, who was pale to begin with. He walked towards the bed, and climbed on next to her dropping a kiss on her forehead, which also served to see if she had a temperature. She seemed cool enough, but he still needed to know what was wrong. .He brushed her cheek with his thumb, and gently said her name, hoping to raise her from her sleep. When this did not alter her state, he kissed her, gently at first, and then a little harder, until her mouth opened, and responded to his lips. Her tongue played with his, and as Owens hands ran down her sides, and pulled her towards him, Cristina who was in the middle of a delicious dream, became fully awake, and went rigid in his arms. She brought her hands up to his shoulders, and pushed him away slightly, breaking the kiss. Owen, what are you doing here? She asked. Cris I virtually live here with you, and when Meredith said you had gone home sick, I came to make sure you were ok, he replied. She sighed, Owen I'm fine.

What did I do? Owen asked sadly. Owen I am fine, we are fine, she said firmly, while trying to extricate herself from his embrace. I know that is not true, he replied with equal firmness, because you shrink away from me every time I touch you, you avoid me at work, and at home, you have even managed to avoid me in bed, sleeping as far away from me as you can, and we have not made love in over a week. Cristina rolled her eyes at the last part of his statement.

Don't do that Cristina, Owen said softly, this is not about sex, I was in the army, I can abstain from sex, it is not about that, but I miss you. I miss holding you, kissing you, and showing you how much I love you. I even miss our work disagreements, so baby please tell me what I did wrong so that I can undo it.

Maybe it is not something you can undo Owen, Cristina replied, her eyes filling with tears.

Then I will do something to make it better, I have to because I can't lose you, you are _it_ for me. I promised you forty years, but really I want more, I want forever, I love you so much, I want us to be together forever living in a house that we chose together, I want to marry you, and have babies with you, so please tell me what I did so I can fix it, please don't give up on me, because I need you. I need us.

By the time Owen had finished , Cristina was openly sobbing, Owen held her to him, and kissed her hair, I was hoping for a more positive reaction he whispered sadly, this made Cristina, laugh a little, and hiccup as she was still crying. What did I do Cristina, he tried again.

You got me pregnant, she replied, actually surprising herself, because she had really not intended to tell him. Your pregnant he repeated incredulously, Cristina nodded, and Owen rolled over, bringing Cristina with him, so that he was no longer half lying on top of her, but she was on top of him. Cristina, I need you to know that you being pregnant is something that I have only ever dreamed of, and I want to have children with you more than anything, but if you are not ready, surely you know that I would not try and force you into doing something that you did not want. Owen looked deep into her eyes, and she knew he was telling her the truth, so maybe it was time for her to come clean.

Its not that Owen, I really want this baby, its just I'm scared.

Owen felt himself relax, she said she really wanted the baby, their baby, so that was a good sign. What are you scared of ? being pregnant? Giving birth? Being a Mum? He asked.

Probably a bit scared of all three she replied, but mostly because I've had a scan, and the baby is developing in my one remaining fallopian tube. If things go wrong, I could lose this baby, and along with it, our chances of ever having a baby together, and I am terrified of the thought that this might be the only chance I get to have a baby with you, and, I might let you down.

How long have you known Cristina? asked Owen, how long have you been torturing yourself with these thoughts, without coming to me, without letting me support you, without letting me in?.

Six days. I've been on an emotional rollercoaster, wanting to tell you, but not sure if it was what you wanted. I've even been wondering if I told you and you were happy about the prospect of being a father, how sad you would be if the next scan results are not good and this is not a viable pregnancy. Cristina raised her head to look him directly in the eyes. I wanted to protect you from that. I am so sorry that I have been preoccupied, and that I have made you worry. I'm emotional, and confused, and I was frightened that you would guess before I told you, that's why I haven't made love to you for a week, not because I don't love you or don't want you, just because you know every inch of my body, and I was convinced that you would notice changes in my body if we made love, know that I was pregnant. Cristina dropped her gaze to his chest. I'm so sorry , she repeated.

Owen was silent for a minute or two before asking her about her appointment. I have to go back tomorrow for a more sensitive scan, that will hopefully tell me that our baby is in the right place. If it isn't, then we will have a tough decision to make she said. We won't, replied Owen. I want our baby, but you come first, and if continuing with this pregnancy puts you at risk, I promise you that the decision will be a straightforward one for me to make, but lets not dwell on that until we know for sure. Can I come with you? Owen asked.

I was counting on it. Cristina gave him a teary smile.

Owen held her tightly for several minuets before saying. .Do you remember what I told you just before you told me we were having a baby? Not really replied Cristina, I was too worried about how you were going to take my news, we have never really discussed children, she stated. Well, started Owen, I said that I wanted forever, that I wanted our home, that I wanted to marry you and have babies with you, do you think that as we have already started on the babies bit, you would consider the marriage and the house bits too? He finished shyly. Are you proposing to me Owen, Cristina clarified. Yes, Yes I am. Cristina please, please, please will you marry me and make me a better man. Cristina gave him just one word in response. Yes.

Owen hugged her to him, and then drew back to kiss her, another toe curling kiss, that told her everything that she needed to know about how he felt about her. He pulled away, and reached over to his night stand, where he started rummaging for something, initially Cristina was going to say, that condoms were no longer required, until he pulled out a small black velvet box. I know you are not a ring person, but perhaps you could wear it sometimes, just for me, it would make me so happy knowing that you were wearing my ring even if it was just sometimes. I bought this about a year ago, that's how long I have known I wanted this, I was just waiting until I thought I had a chance of you accepting it. He opened the box, showing Cristina a no nonsense two carat solitaire on a yellow gold band. Cristina held out her left hand, and Owen placed the ring on her finger. I love it, said Cristina, and I think, that for you, I could become a ring person.

Cristina and Owen shared another tender kiss, before Owen told her that he was going back to the hospital and would if possible arrange to come home early that afternoon. Cristina made Owen promise that he would not give details of the reasons she had gone home sick to anyone, and she snuggled under the comforter to have a nap. Growing a baby was exhausting work.

Cristina went into the hospital for her appointment with James the next day positively glowing, she had spent the evening and night talking to Owen about their impending parenthood, in between periods of lovemaking, and she was both exhausted and rejuvenated at the same time, Her beautiful new ring, caught the light, and sat proudly on her left hand, she would wear it when she could, and when she was in surgery, it would hang on a chain around her neck, there were many things that she would do for Owen Hunt, and in the whole scheme of things, wearing a beautiful ring was miniscule.

Owen had arranged to meet her upstairs so as not to raise suspicion amongst their colleagues, he was excited, and scared at the same time, and was frustrated, when the Chief held him up after surgery, with some questions about one of the new residents he had assisting him. Owen had somewhere to be, and not wanting to wait for the elevator, ran up the eight flights of stairs that took him to the 4th floor.. Cristina was there first, and was seated alone when James came in, he greeted her warmly and was asking her how she had been over the last week, when the phone rang. It was Clare, announcing that Dr Yang's fiancé was in reception for their appointment. James relayed this information with a smirk on his face, and Cristina laughed openly and said, you were right James, it was a lot to deal with on my own. I only told him yesterday, so he has had a lot to absorb in the last 24 hours, but I guess I was just too scared to do this today without him. Cristina stood up and went to the door to call Owen in.

Dr James Evans, this is Dr Owen Hunt, my fiancé, Owen this is James. The men shook hands, Owen smiled, his heart swelling at being introduced as her fiancé, and James asked Cristina if she was ready for her scan. Cristina went into the ultrasound room and repeated what she had done the previous week, however this week the stakes were higher, and she thanked god, or would have if she had been a believer, that Owen was there with her, holding her hand, and ready to celebrate with her, or hold her if things did not go right.

James started to move the wand over Cristina abdomen. He located Cristina's fallopian tube, and started to move the wand back and forth looking for any signs of her baby, both Cristina and Owen, could see the screen, and Cristina started to cry before James was able to locate her baby. Owen, who had also identified that the fallopian was clear from obstruction, squeezed Cristina's hand, and leant over to kiss her. Sorry James, she has been doing that a lot recently, smiled Owen.

Pregnancy hormones was all Cristina said, trying to wipe the tears that were still rolling down her face with the back of her hand. Get used to it Owen, laughed James, because here is your baby, exactly where we want it to be, so thankfully the pregnancy hormones will be around for about another seven months. At this point, both of them diverted their attention back to the screen, where James pointed out their baby's heartbeat ,and limbs. After congratulating them both, and printing out some copies of the scan, James left the room, giving Owen and Cristina the privacy they so desperately wanted. Cristina sat up, and stretched her arms up around his neck, pulling him towards her. Thank you for being here with me, and loving me, and being you, Cristina whispered against his mouth. Owen pulled her closer and kissed her passionately. Thank you, for agreeing to marry me, and having my baby, and making me a better man, he responded. Please marry me soon, I long to introduce you to someone as my wife. I'll make every man in the world jealous of me, he smiled waiting for her response.

Ok she said, how about next Wednesday, we both have the day off, lets go to city hall, I can't wait either. I am looking forward to being Dr Mrs Cristina Hunt. Owens eyes widened in surprise, and Cristina continued by saying, I want all our family to have the same name. Owen pushed his hand in her hair, in a move reminiscent of their first kiss, and bent his head to once again claim her lips.


	2. Chapter 2 Coffee and Reassurances

**Thank you for all your reviews and feedback. These have given me the push to change this from a one shot, and I have added another chapter. I hope that the use of speech marks and spacing makes this chapter easier to read**.

**Coffee and Reassurances.**

"Can I buy you a cup of coffee?" Owen asked Teddy.

Teddy, gave Owen a rather embarrassed smile, and nodded her affirmation, without saying a word. Owen ordered two coffees from the cart, and carried both cups towards a small break out area, where there was a free table. He placed the cups down, and pulled out a chair for Teddy to sit down.

"Thank you," murmured Teddy while sitting down.

The last few weeks had had been uncomfortable for Teddy. She had put herself out on a limb, when confessing her feelings for Owen, and had not really expected the backlash to be quite so confrontational, or painful. At worst, she thought that Owen would be flattered, but uninterested, and at best, that she might get her man. Owens confession to her, that he had had feelings for her, but was now committed to Cristina, made her angry with herself. She had tried to do the right thing, the honourable thing and left him alone for all those years because of Beth, and had missed her chances of love with the man who had occupied her dreams for years.

"I needed to talk to you privately," said Owen.

"Ok, what about?" replied Teddy. "I didn't want you to hear this from anyone else. I am getting married, Cristina and I are getting married." he stated simply. Teddy swallowed hard, to try and get rid of the lump that she felt in her throat.

"Congratulations, I hope that you will both be very happy." said Teddy, not without some difficulty.

Owen could see that she was distressed, and wanted to try and make her feel better. His anger at her, because of her, years too late declaration, had subsided over the last week, and he had been to excited about his forthcoming wedding to harbour any ill feeling against Teddy, and she was after all here at his request, and his only friend from his before. " I never meant to hurt you Teddy." said Owen gently, while gently stroking her arm.

"Its fine, honestly." Teddy smiled perhaps a little too brightly. "Owen I promise you that I am ok with your news. I know that what I told you came as a surprise to you, but it wasn't news to me." She swallowed , and continued " I have felt this way for years, all through your engagement to Beth, and because you were engaged, I didn't say anything, or do anything, and if I had known that you and Cristina were serious, I would not have said anything now. I misjudged the situation, and I feel embarrassed. I don't want to upset you, and I like working with Cristina, she has an amazing talent, and I don't want what I said to you, to jeopardise my relationship with either of you. I am not a home wrecker. If I was, you would have known how I felt five years ago."

Owen listened without interrupting, once she has started to talk, it was as if she needed to get her speech out, and Owen felt he owed her that. "Thank you. If you are really ok about this, how do you feel about being my witness? We have decided not to tell our families until after we get married, because Cristina does not want the whole wedding thing, and this will make is easier. Really you are my only friend here." Teddy smiled. "I've made some friends since I have been here, but they are all Cristina's friends, who involve me by association. It would be nice to have someone there who was my friend first." Owen looked at her hopefully. Perhaps she really could move passed what could have been, Owen thought. It was easy for him, because the decision had already been made for him as soon as he had met Cristina. He had instantly felt a connection with her that was far stronger than anything that he had ever had with Beth, yet when he was in Iraq with Teddy, he did not act upon his feelings because he had chosen Beth over her. Owen felt sure, that the attraction he had felt for Teddy would not have happened if it had been Cristina who had been waiting for him at home instead of Beth.

Owen waited for Teddy to consider his request. "I would be honoured." Teddy said, after a few seconds pause, and she then lifted her cup, to drink the now cooling beverage inside.

**Three weeks later**.

Cristina was blossoming, figuratively, not literally. She was happy, calm, and most importantly she was learning. Teddy had been a true professional, and was enjoying mentoring Cristina., and Cristina was reaping the benefits, of Teddy's guilt complex. Cristina had been assigned to Dr Altman's service for a month, and while Cristina was loving every minute, Teddy was also making a reputation for herself, as the attending to handle Cristina, succeeding where many had tried and failed.

Cristina's new licence had arrived, and she was now officially Dr Cristina Hunt, following her city hall wedding to Owen two weeks earlier. Karev and Avery still called her Yang, and she refused to correct them, because she did not want to be labelled as a "girl." Cristina had spent the last 6 years proving to all her fellow residents, that she was tough, independent, focussed, and the best, and she didn't want to ruin that reputation by being prissy over the use of her maiden name. She gave them both the benefit of the doubt, especially Karev, whom she expected with time, would remember she was now Dr Hunt.

Dr Altman called Cristina Dr Yang Hunt, and in many ways this irritated Cristina more than Avery and Karev. The fact that she chose to double barrel her name, meant, that she remembered that Cristina was no longer Dr Yang, but still ignored the fact that she had chosen to be known only as Dr Hunt. Cristina chose not to analyse Teddy's motives, as she felt that no good could come of it, and refused to get upset for the sake of her unborn baby.

Owen, true to his word, was taking really good care of Cristina. He made sure that she took her prenatal vitamins, bought decaffeinated coffee, and took to drinking tonic water with ice and lemon, which was Cristina's chosen drink since she had known she was pregnant. Everyone around her, assumed it was her usual vodka and tonic, and thus, she did not alert anyone to her pregnancy, including Owen, before she was ready to share the news with them. At almost twelve weeks pregnant, Cristina knew that she could not keep her secret much longer, and as she was entering her second trimester, was feeling great about how her pregnancy was going.

Cristina, dressed in her scrubs was walking with Owen towards the ER when she received a page. Checking her pager, she turned to Owen. "Its Teddy. She needs me in cardiothoracic."

"Ok, I will come and meet you for lunch at one o'clock." replied Owen. "Page me if you are not going to be ready, and I will do likewise." he continued, before dropping, a short kiss on her lips, and walking away from Cristina towards the ER.

Cristina arrived at cardio, to see Dr Altman and Dr Avery already there. "Hi." said Cristina.

"Dr Yang Hunt, we have an interesting case here, I thought you would like to assist with. Follow me." Said Dr Altman. Cristina looked at Avery, and followed her mentor into a patients room. "Dr Avery, please present."

"Joshua Kalhu, male age 63, who was admitted this morning, with sever chest pains after failing to respond to corticosteroids, following diagnosis for systemic lupus erythematosus. He has been monitored for the last 2 hours, and has not shown any further deterioration, and blood gases and an EKG have been completed with inconclusive results." Jackson Avery stated confidently while looking at Cristina and Teddy.

"Thank you Dr Avery. Dr Yang Hunt, possible causes and treatment plan please." Asked Teddy.

"As previous treatment has failed, one possible diagnosis is myocarditis. The prognosis for long-term damage is not predictable and will only becomes evident as the patient is followed and monitored over time. After the initial phase of myocarditis, some patients can experience complete recovery, others may develop chronic heart failure, due to injured heart muscle. Infrequently, some patients develop fulminant heart failure, a serious condition possibly resulting in transplant.

Patients who have had myocarditis are at some risk for sudden unexpected, potentially fatal, heart rhythm abnormalities. These can often be prevented with implantable defibrillators if the heart muscle damage is severe. Other treatment plans should include beta blockers, and nuclear scan." Cristina looked at Teddy, as she completed her diagnosis, and suggestions for treatment plans. Teddy looked suitably impressed, and thanked Cristina for her diagnosis.

"Mr Kalhu," Teddy continued " before we consider further treatment, we would like to do a full work up, and continue monitoring you. Dr's Avery and Hunt will be looking after you, and I will be back later to see you." Teddy nodded to her residents and left the room.

"Wow," said Avery, following Cristina out of the patients room, "She called you Hunt, not Yang Hunt."

"Whatever," responded Cristina will a trademark roll of her eyes, before going to the nurses station to order the tests her patient needed.

Teddy received a page, and rushed to see a patient she had operated on the night before, who was coding, She was in for a busy day.

At 12.30, a visitor walked into Seattle Greys Hospital, hoping to check on his mothers close friend, Mr Joshua Kalhu. Joshua, had been a lifetime friend of his mother, and when she had rung him, upset that Joshua was not getting the medical care he needed, he could not refuse her plea to visit, even though it was the last place he wanted to be.

"Hello," the visitor said, at the hospital reception. " I am here to visit Joshua Kalhu, and was hoping to have a chat with his Doctor before I see him." The receptionist, consulted her computer, before advising that Dr Altman, was Mr Kalhu's doctor, and that he took a seat she would come and see him before she went into surgery. The visitor gave his details, and duly took a seat.

Owen checked his watch, it had been a slow day in the ER, and he decided that he would go and collect his wife for lunch early. He was trying to make sure that Cristina was not living on a diet of fries and salad, and found that she was more likely to make good food choices when he was with her. Owen walked over to the cardio wing at 12.45, hoping to entice his wife away early.

Cristina was accompanying Mr Kalhu and Avery down to x-rays for his nuclear heart scan to be performed, she decided against paging Owen, as she was only going to be five minutes late.

Teddy walked into the waiting room, where Mr Kalhu's friend was waiting. "Hello sir, I am Dr Altman, and I am Mr Kalhu's consultant cardio surgeon." stated Teddy simply.

"Hello, Dr Altman, my name is Preston Burke, and I am a close family friend of Joshua's." Teddy's eyes opened a little wider. "The Preston Burke? Harper Avery winner?" smiled Teddy, impressed at meeting the cardio legend. "Indeed" replied Burke smugly.

Owen had never been one for gossip, so although he was aware of who Burke was, and his history with Cristina, he had the information from Cristina. Teddy on the other hand, had heard the gossip relating to Burke, from the nurses, who loved Burke, and had an innate dislike of Cristina. What Teddy had heard was not flattering at all to Cristina.

According to Teddy's sources, Cristina had slept with Burke, to get ahead, to get surgeries. She had promised to marry him when she didn't want to, and finding out at the last minute, Burke had left, heartbroken and too embarrassed to return to his highly successful career. Cristina in Teddy's version of events, returned to SGH brazenly, and started chasing other attending to see where it would get her.

In an instant, Teddy decided that maybe if Owen got to know the truth about Cristina's past, maybe he would not be quite so besotted with her, and providing Teddy herself did not impart any of this information, she could not be accused of trying to break up his relationship, although she would of course be their if he needed a shoulder to cry on. Teddy was an honourable person, but hell she had tried that once already with Owen, and had missed her chance with him as a result, made a mistake. Owen always told her that mistakes are how you learn, and she was going to learn from that one.

"Dr Burke, it is a pleasure to have you here, and I would really like to go over Joshua's prognosis with you now, but I am due in surgery. Joshua, is being looked after by the best team we have, and as I know that you know the way to the Cardio wing, if you would like to make your way over there, and let them know I have sent you, Dr Hunt, will show you to Joshua's room, where you can wait until I get back." Teddy smiled, bid Burke goodbye, and went into surgery with a spring in her step.

Burke made his way to cardio, and arrived at 1 o'clock, where an impatient Owen was waiting at the nurses station.

A nurse was talking to Owen." I have just rung x-ray Dr Hunt, and have been advised that they are on their way back ."

"Thank you for that, I should be grateful its only a few minutes delay shouldn't I." he gave the nurse a heart stopping smile, one that got him whatever assistance he wanted from the medical staff at SGH, and that got his new wife out of countless scrapes.

Burke, hearing the nurse address Owen, walked towards him. "Dr Hunt?" Burke asked.

"Yes, how can I help you." Owen replied.

" I am here to see Joshua Kalhu, and Dr Altman said you would show me to his room." said Burke.

Owen smiled " I am afraid, I'm the wrong Dr Hunt, you are looking for my wife, but she will be here any minute if you would like to wait. " Burke nodded and took a seat.

Owen's pager went off, and he went to the phone at the nurses station to call the ER.

The elevator doors opened, and Avery and Cristina, wheeled Joshua back to his room. Avery, knowing that Cristina was late for meeting Owen, said "Go Yang, I can take it from here." Cristina thanked him and made her way to the nurses station to meet her husband.

"Cristina." She stopped on hearing her name spoken, and slowly turned round to see Preston Burke sat in her cardio wing.

"Burke what are you doing here?" She spoke slowly and quietly.

"I'm actually waiting to see a Dr Hunt, but I am glad I have seen you, I was hoping I might get the chance to talk to you, to explain, while I was visiting." stuttered Burke, somewhat embarrassed. He had intended seeking out Cristina but he was not ready yet for the conversation he wanted to have with her.

"Why are you looking for Dr Hunt?" she asked.

"Apparently she is looking after my friend Mr Kalhu, why do you ask?" he responded. "Because," said Cristina " you have just found her."

Burke, who had stood up to greet Cristina now sunk back onto the chair he had previously been occupying, and looked at Cristina. "You are married?"

Cristina did not respond, she turned, and seeing Owen looking at her altercation with this stranger, gave him a smile, and called him Over. Owen could see the confusion in her eyes, as he approached her, and he was taken aback when she said "Owen I would like to introduce you to Dr Preston Burke, Burke, this is my husband Dr Owen Hunt." While performing the introductions Cristina nervously indicated each man in turn, and Burke could not help but notice the wedding band and engagement ring on her left hand.

Burke felt a pain at the pit of his stomach. He should not feel this hurt, he left her, he ended the relationship, but he was kidding himself, and he knew it. He had walked away because he had loved her enough not to force her to do something she was not ready to do.

"My husband and I are actually just on our way to lunch, but my colleague Dr Avery, will be happy to take you to Joshua." Christina did not wait for Burke to respond, but walked away to get Jackson Avery.

Burkes eyes followed Cristina, and when he looked up, he met an intense stare from a pair of piercing blue eyes. Owen spoke quietly and firmly. " I don't know you, and I don't want to. I am probably the one very few people in this hospital, that does not hate you for what you did to Cristina, because part of me has to be glad, that you were stupid enough to leave her, or we would not be together, however if you do anything to upset her while you are here, I can assure you that you will regret it." With that, Owen turned on his heels, grabbed his wife's hand, and walked towards the corridor leading to the place with the food.

Cristina walked in silence towards the elevator. Once the elevator arrived, they went inside, and as it was empty, Cristina immediately moved into Owens waiting arms. She was shaking a little, partly with shock, but partly with anger. How dare he turn up now, just when her life was on track, just when she was happy, and more importantly why did she care?

"Are you ok." Owen whispered against Cristina's ear.

"I think so, it was just a shock, seeing him after all this time, he walked away, and sent his Mama to collect his things, and then he just walks back in again, almost as if he expects everything to be the same." there was a catch in Cristina's voice, which caused him to frown. He knew her well enough to know that she was more effected than she was making out, but as always with Cristina, he would just have to wait until she was ready to let him in.

After lunch, Owen was concerned that Cristina had to go back to the cardio wing, and because of an incoming trauma, he was not able to go back with her and make sure that Burke did not cause her any further upset. She assured him that she was fine, she was Cristina freaking badass Hunt, and she could deal with an ex-fiancé, as easily as she could a thoracotomy, besides, she charting to do, and could easily avoid Burke for hours.

Burke was still with Joshua, about 2 hours later when Cristina could no longer put off checking on Joshua. Although Joshua was sleeping, Cristina checked his vitals, and was turning to leave, when Burke reached out and grabbed her hand. "Cristina," he pleaded " please can you let me explain?"

"The time for explanations is long gone Burke, you left me, in a dress I didn't want to wear, that I put on to make you happy, at the door of a church, for a service I didn't believe in, to make you happy, and in return, I got a visit from Mama, who took all your things, along with my eyebrows. So no Burke, you don't get to explain." Cristina pulled her hand to try and free her herself, but Burke tightened his grip to try and keep her from walking away.

"I love you Cristina, I know that you don't want to hear that, but if I had loved you any less, we would be married now. I couldn't make you go through with a wedding you didn't want." He said sadly.

"You are right Burke, I didn't want the wedding that you insisted on, but at that time, I did want to be married to you, it is ironic, that you loved me so much, that I ended up married somebody else." Cristina turned away, her brown eyes filling with tears, and in doing so they met with a pair of piercing blue ones. How much of their conversation Owen had heard, Cristina didn't know, but he looked angry and hurt.

"Dr Burke," he growled " get your hands off my wife now, or I will put my military training to good use, and make sure that you can never perform a surgery again."

Burke dropped Cristina's hand instantly, as if he had been burnt, and Owen escorted Cristina out of the room.

"Owen, you did not need to do that, I was handling it." sighed Cristina.

"I'm sorry Cris but it didn't look as though you were handling anything. I came up here as soon as I could because I was worried about you, and there you are listening to his proclamations of love, and telling him how you wanted to be married to him. How do you think that makes me feel? We have not even been married a month yet." Owen shook his head sadly from side to side.

"Owen I didn't say I wanted to be married to him, I said that I had at that time. Three years ago, I had wanted to be married to him, but you knew that, I have never kept any secrets from you. I told you a long time ago that I thought that I was in love with him, but that I have realised now what real love is. I have exactly what I want. You, and our baby." Cristina held onto Owens waist, not wanting him to walk away.

"Cristina, I can't do this now, I only came up here to make sure that he wasn't upsetting you, we will talk later." Owen could see that Burke was watching them through the window in his friends room, and not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing them fight, he pulled his wife towards him, and after tangling one hand in her hair, kissed her firmly.

"Don't go, come and get a coffee or something with me, I am sure that Teddy wont mind." pleaded Cristina.

"I can't at the moment, I have an ER to run, I just wanted to check that you were ok. I will see you at six." Owen walked swiftly back towards the elevator, and out of Cristina's line of sight.

Teddy walked into the cardio department, and was immediately accosted by a rather hyperactive Cristina. "Dr Altman, despite being really keen to assist you with this case, I am afraid that the arrival of Dr Preston Burke, who is a family friend of Mr Kalhu, is going to make it difficult for me. Please can be I be excused from this case." Cristina rushed out her speech. She had never in her career, actually wanted to be let off a case before, and she felt embarrassed that she was asking now, but it was not because she could not work around Burke, it was because she did not want to upset Owen.

"Dr Yang Hunt, I am dealing with a personal friend of one of the top cardiothoracic surgeons, in the country, and I need the best people I have working with me, and that means you, so no, you cannot be excused. Now pull yourself together, forget the personal crap between you and Dr Burke, and lets save a life." Teddy said, walking purposefully towards Joshua's room, where she started to engage Burke in conversation.

Teddy decided, with Burkes agreement, that based on the results from the nuclear heart scan, that it would be necessary to schedule a procedure to implant defibrillators to the damaged heart muscle, and this was booked for the following day.

A little after six o'clock, a tense Cristina walked outside of the hospital to meet her husband for the short walk home. Owen walked about a step ahead of Cristina , and completed the short walk in silence. His hand held Cristina's firmly, and although the effect was almost as if he was dragging her along, she was glad of the contact, anything was better than nothing right? After all, he was clearly upset, and that was down to her, and of course Burke.

Once inside the apartment, Owen immediately went to the fridge and removed a beer. It was the first one that he had drunk in front of Cristina since she had told him that she was pregnant, and the fact that he had chosen to do it today, somewhat hurt Cristina, who was feeling as though she needed a stiff drink herself.

"Ok Owen, I can see that you are pissed with me, so lets get it off your chest, so that we can move past this." challenged Cristina.

"Oh I am pissed alright. You couldn't just ignore him could you? Tell him that you had moved on, and wasn't interested in him or his apologies and declarations. Do I mean so little to you, that you are letting your ex, worm his way back into your affections, within weeks of committing yourself to me, for the rest of your life?" Owen was almost yelling. Cristina knew that he was just getting rid of his frustrations, and she was determined for the sake of her baby that she would not yell back, after all the last thing that she needed was for her blood pressure to increase. She was also determined for the sake of her marriage, that this would not be an argument, that was carried over to another day, it would be resolved tonight.

"To be fair Owen, I could not just ignore him, because he has been sitting at the hospital most of the day with my patient. I introduced him to you, made it clear that I am married now, and I felt those actions clearly indicated that I had moved on. I didn't think that it was necessary for me gloat, about how good my life is without him That would have just been mean." Cristina responded.

When Owen didn't response, she continued." At any time in the last two years, have I ever given you any reason to believe that I was still interested in Burke, or that I saw my non marriage to Burke as anything but a lucky escape? Did I not give you enough second chances, when you turned up for our first date drunk? Did I not hold you tightly enough, and not reassured you enough after you nearly chocked me to death? Perhaps, I did not attend enough therapy sessions with you, or offer enough reassurance. No it is definitely because I don't cook isn't it?" she said insultingly.

Owen had the grace to look uncomfortable, and shook his head stating quietly" No."

"Have you any reason to think that I am anything less that 100% committed to you, that I am anything less than totally in love with you?" She was speaking very quietly now, not much more than a whisper really. "Don't you realise, that your reaction is what he wanted.? Don't let him win even the smallest game. We are better than that."

Owen replayed the conversation he had overhead in his head, and she was right, she had said it had been what she wanted _at that time_, and when she had said " It is ironic that you loved me so much that I am now married to another man, she was putting him down, letting him know that his words were hollow, and didn't mean anything to her.

"I'm sorry." he sighed. " I guess I skipped right over sensitive, and straight into paranoia. I'm not very logical when it comes to you, because you are everything to me." Cristina walked towards him, and putting her arms around his neck, pulled him towards her for an embrace.

"we are operating on Joshua tomorrow, and I promise you Burke will be gone by the end of the week. Just promise me that until then, that you trust me, and that we are a united front. You know that we are stronger together." she smiled.

Owen smiled back at her, it was something that he had said several times, more as a reference to himself being stronger with her than he was on his own, and it amused him that she should use his own words against him to prove her point, but that was typical of Cristina and he loved her for it.

"Ok." said Owen. "You are right, from now on it is team Hunt/Hunt, we are indestructible together, so let the game begin." he laughed, trying to lighten Cristina's mood. "How about a nice cup of decaf?"

Cristina nodded in agreement, and followed Owen towards the kitchen, where she sat on one of the high stools surrounding the breakfast bar. Owen brewed the decaf, that they now both drunk, and placed Cristina's cup before her. Looking intently at her, her spoke quietly, and said " I already told you that you are the one for me, and I want to reassure you, that no matter how many Burkes, there are in your past, or how many Beth's there are in mine, that I believe that we are meant to be."

Cristina looked intently at him, accepting his reassurance, and sipping at her decaffeinated coffee, and she felt calm, and at rest.


	3. Chapter 3 Not with you

**Once again, thank you for your feedback. Chapter three is slightly shorter than the previous two, and covers Cristina dealing with Burke.**

**I know Burke will never return in the show, but I have always felt that a man can't just leave a girl at the altar, and there not be any backlash. I would have loved to see how she would have dealt with him on the show, and in the absence of that, wanted to give Cristina the opportunity, in this fiction, to let him know what he had missed out on.**

**Not with you.**

Cristina walked into the kitchen of her apartment, wearing only one of Owens tee shirts. It was a faded olive green colour, with ARMY emblazoned across the chest, and on Cristina it went down to mid thigh. She liked to wear his clothes, and although initially it had seemed to irritate him, if he was honest, he would admit, that really it turned him on.

Owen was at the sink in the kitchen, rinsing out the coffee filter, so that he could make a second pot for the thermos mugs that they always took to work, the contents of the first pot was sitting on the counter, in two oversized cups. Cristina, walked up to him, and circled his waist from behind, laying her cheek against his shoulder blade, and placing a small kiss on his back. Owen immediately turned in her arms, and pulled her closely to him, caressing her with wet hands.

"Hey mister, you are getting me wet, go dry your hands." she complained. Owen smiled and kissed her before saying, "And good morning to you too my dear wife." She half heartedly swatted at his arm, and laughed.

"Your coffee is ready," stated Owen, as he guided her towards the counter, where her coffee was waiting. "I didn't want to wake you any earlier than I had to, as you seem to have spent half the night tossing and turning. Are you ok?"

"Yep, I will be fine, I guess I am just a bit nervous about the defib implants. " she noted a concerned look on Owens face, and leant towards him to rub her hand along his jaw, and up behind his neck, before applying pressure, to draw him towards her. "I will be fine. Once I'm in the OR, I will be in the zone, and I won't even think about what has gone on in the last 24 hours." with that, Cristina kissed Owen, and hopped off the bar stool she had been sitting on, before carrying her coffee back towards the bedroom. Owen followed her, it was time that they were both getting ready for work.

Jackson Avery was assigned to Joshua's pre op, which rather surprised him. What did not come as a surprise to him, was the way that Dr Altman interacted with Cristina, almost as if she could not decide if she wanted Cristina to be her best friend, or if she wanted to spend her life knocking Cristina down a peg or two. He could understand where she was coming from. Avery wanted to learn from Hunt, and therefore wanted the head of trauma to see him in a good light, so if he was being honest, he had done his fair share of courting favour with Owen Hint, but at the same time, he was more than a little jealous of him, because he had Cristina, and while Jackson Avery knew a dead cause when he saw one, it didn't stop him from lusting after Cristina. If he was ever in a position professionally to put Dr Owen Hunt in his place, he would do it in a heartbeat, after all it was not fair for one man to get so much of his own way.

Avery completed the pre op process, and was waiting for Dr Altman to come and answer Joshua's last questions when Preston Burke entered the patients room.. He sat quietly while Teddy answered the questions posed to her, and was on her way out of the room, following Avery, when Dr Burke, asked her if he could speak to her alone.

Teddy showed Burke into her office, and sat down.

"What is it Dr Burke?" she asked politely.

"I have a favour to ask. I know that it against protocol, but I would like to assist with Joshua's surgery." Burke's eyes looked directly into Teddy's.

"I am really sorry Dr Burke, but there are several reasons why that can't happen. Firstly, as you are no longer a doctor here, you would need permission from the board to perform surgery , and there is not enough time to arrange that. Secondly, they would not agree to you performing surgery on a friend, and finally, and most importantly, Dr Cristina Yang Hunt will be performing the surgery. I will be in the OR for support if it is required, but we both know that she has completed more complex surgeries than this one in your OR." Teddy waited for his reaction. She knew about his shaking hand, and how he had let a 2nd year intern perform his surgeries, but did not know how he would react to the news that it was common knowledge, and that even staff who had joined SGH well after he had left were aware of his serious misjudgement.

Burke took a deep breath, and said " I have no desire to make Cristina uncomfortable, that is the last thing that I want. Perhaps I could be allowed to watch from the gallery?"

"Of course you can. I also think that it might be a good idea to try and talk to Cristina, as by the look on your face, you need to sort things out with her, even if it is just to get some closure." Teddy gave him a warm smile, perhaps she could stir things up a little again, without having to say a word to Owen or Cristina.

The surgery was a complex one, expected to last several hours. Cristina was feeling a little jaded, probably a combination of a poor nights sleep, and her pregnancy. In the old days, she would have had a double espresso, and all would have been right in the world, but the new responsible mummy to be knew that she would have to refrain. Cristina opted for a mineral water, not wanting to dehydrate while in the OR, and was having a drink, when her husband appeared at her side.

"Hi," she said to him. "I'm due to scrub in in half an hour, so thought I would get a drink before going in."

"Good idea." responded Owen "Have you eaten anything since breakfast?"

"Of course." She answered, smirking a little

"What Cristina? What have you eaten?" he asked

"A banana and a bag of sour patch kids." she laughed. Owen smiled, knowing that the sweets had been one of the first things that she had a craving for after becoming pregnant.

"Ok, I approve of the banana, but you know you are supposed to be restricting the junk that you eat Cris." Owen looked at her quite intently, waiting for a response. He had the knack of making her want to tell the truth, and despite enjoying the sweets, she now felt a little guilty at having eaten them.

"I really could not help it." Owen raised an eyebrow quizzically at this statement. "Baby wanted them, and no amount of pumpkin seeds and raisins were going to do the trick, she just doesn't like the healthy stuff." Cristina smiled sweetly, hoping to win him round, and divert him to another topic, and it seemed to work.

"Oh so it's a she is it?" He asked

"Probably. I cant imagine any son of yours craving for fries and sour patch kids, and the fact that this kid seems to want the same food that I like, I cant help thinking that it's a she. Does that disappoint you, do you want a boy." She asked

"I want you both safe and well. And here." he added quickly. " I can' wait to meet the next member of my family. Boy or Girl, I don't mind at all for our first child." He responded.

Cristina did not miss the reference to the first child, and wondered how many children he expected her to have. "Owen you said first child. How many children to you expect me to give birth to,"

"I thought that three would be nice, but that isn't something that we have to decide any time soon is it?" he advised.

"I know, but if I'm going to be a cardio god, I cant spend the next ten years pregnant or nursing. I'm not even sure that I am going to want another baby after we have this one." She said solemnly, after all it was no use letting him think that she was going to turn into some sort of baby producing machine, hell she only had one fallopian, they were lucky to be having one child.

"Cristina, don't worry about it, I know that when it comes to you, what I want isn't necessarily what I'll get. If you had not wanted any children at all, I would have been disappointed, but I would have still wanted to be with you. You must know that you are number one on my wish list." He smiled, and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Now stop frowning at me, drink your water, and go scrub in. I will try and catch the end of your surgery, but if I cant, will meet you after."

"Ok, I will see you later then." Owen started to walk away, and Cristina called him back.

"Owen?" He turned to look at her, and she said "I love you." damn pregnancy hormones are turning me into a girl she thought, disgusted with herself for her semi public show of affection, but it was only for a second, as Owen stopped walking and turned back to face her.

"Me too," he replied "Take care now." with which he went back towards the ER.

Cristina went into the OR after scrubbing in, and upon glancing up at the gallery, saw Burke. Taking a deep breath, to steady herself, she asked the nurse for a 10 blade, before commencing Joshua's surgery.

Burke remained silent in the gallery, despite the attempts of those around him, many wanting to engage the cardio god in conversation. He was listening intently to the sound of the machines monitoring Joshua, and was carefully watching every move that Cristina made. She was incredible. He always knew that she had a talent for cardio, and in their time together, he had certainly tried to nurture that talent, but she had surpassed even his expectations, and he knew that by the time she had completed her fellowship, she would be more in demand, than any of her mentors. The thought made him proud, but also sad that he would not be the man sharing her success.

After four hours, Cristina closed the incision, and after thanking her team for their good work, left the OR. The residents and interns that had signed in to watch the surgery started drifting off, and Burke was left along with his thoughts. Eventually he made his way towards the OR, where he met Teddy on her way our of the scrub room.

"Dr Burke, everything, as I am sure you are aware, went beautifully. Joshua will be in recovery for a few hours, but you should be able to sit with him later this evening." Teddy looked Burke in the eye, and continued "Is everything ok Dr Burke?"

"Yes of course, I was very please with the way that the surgery went, it is just I was hoping that I would be able to talk to Cristina. She has a habit of avoiding me, and knows a lot more places to hide in this place than I do." Teddy listened to Burkes admission, and said " Why don't you go into the scrub room, the OR isn't going to be in use for the next couple of hours."

"Thank you Dr Altman, I will do that." said a satisfied Burke.

Burke walked into the scrub room, and nodded to the two scrub nurses who had just entered after clearing the OR. Cristina had just finished scrubbing out, and looked surprised at seeing Burke.

"Dr Burke, I am afraid that this is a restricted area, and is for hospital personnel only. Please would you leave." Cristina said.

"I have actually been given permission to come in, as I wanted to talk to you in private." Burke explained.

"Well, Dr Burke, as you can see the scrub room is not private, so if you will excuse me, we will talk later." Cristina started to walk towards the exit, but Burke grabbed her elbow and steered her towards the OR. "I'm sorry Dr Yang, but I'm afraid that this will not wait, and I happen to know that this OR is not going to be used for the next hour." Burke said through clenched teeth.

"It is Dr Hunt not Yang." Cristina almost shouted while being bundled into the OR by Burke.

The two scrub nurses looked at each other and sighed. They both missed Burke. A cardio department was only as good as the god working there, and cardio scrub nurses were as hungry for surgery's as the interns were. As far as they were concerned Yang drove him off, so she could just face the music. They finished scrubbing out and left.

Owen was rushing towards the OR. If he was quick he might just be able to see the end of Cristina's surgery.

Teddy was approaching the ER. "Is Dr Hunt about Dr Grey?" She asked Lexie.

"No you have just missed him. He has gone to the gallery in OR one, to catch the end of Dr Hunt's surgery." Lexie finished.

Teddy walked away. Perfect she thought. He will see Burke, and Yang together, and of course being a good friend, I will be there if he needs me. Teddy, smiled, and almost sprinted up to the observation gallery.

Owen had only been in the gallery seconds when he realised that he surgery was over. If it had not have been, the place would have been full of people, instead of empty. He was about to leave, when he heard his wife's voice coming over the PA system into the gallery, and for a split second though that he may have been mistaken, and the surgery was not over, but then he heard Burke's voice talking to Cristina.

Owen sat down, unable to move, while knowing that he should let Cristina know that he was privy to the conversation she was having with Burke, he was somehow unable to. It was, sat in silence, alone, where Teddy found him a minute or two later.

"It is Dr Hunt not Yang." Cristina shouted, and it was this sentence that had alerted Owen to the fact that she was still in the OR. " Why cant you call me Dr Hunt?" she added.

"You will always be Dr Yang to me Cristina." he responded. "When we were getting married, and I discussed the possibility of you taking my name, you told me that it was Cristina Yang who had worked so hard to get through med school, and Dr Yang who had graduated top of her year. Yang was the name that you had said was yours through every one of your major accomplishment, and it was the name that you wanted to keep forever. Changed your mind Cristina?"

Up in the gallery, Teddy was watching Owen intently. She would not say a word, she would just be there if he needed her, a pair of arms to hold him, if things went the way she suspected it would, after all from what she had heard, Cristina was destined to be with the man who could best help her career, and if it was cardio she wanted, then Burke was her man.

In the OR below then, Owen could once again hear Cristina's voice come clearly through the PA system.

"It never occurred to me not to take Owens name." she said. " Not becoming Dr Hunt, seemed as ridiculous to me as not breathing, I belong with him, to him, and he belongs to me, and I wanted everyone to know that." she explained plainly.

"And didn't you ever feel that way about us?" he asked.

In the Gallery, Owen held his breath in anticipation of her answer, he really hoped she wouldn't say yes. As if sensing his uncertainty, Teddy moved a hand, to caress his arm comfortingly.

"Have you ever thought Burke, that after being railroaded into doing all the things you wanted to do, the way you wanted them done, that there were some things that I just did not want to be forced to do." Cristina snapped. Above her, unbeknown to Cristina, Owen started breathing again, and Teddy gave his arm and encouraging squeeze.

"I know that you didn't want to have a big wedding, but it was important to me." Burke began. " I also know that you agreed to the whole, wedding, and white dress, and big cake to make me happy, but it was one day. It seems to me that you were prepared to compromise on the things that were a snapshot in time, the stuff that lasts forever, like taking your my name, wearing my ring, having my children, all those things, the things that I wanted the most you refused to give me. That is why I knew I should not make you go through with the wedding." Burke looked at Cristina for some time, wanting her to respond, argue that he was wrong in his assumptions, but when she remained silent, he posed a question to her. "Why him Cristina, what is so different about him, that you would prepared to make all these changes. Changes that the women that I knew would not have made."

Owen wondered if she had changed for him, or if he had forced her to change. In many ways they were both very much alike. Both found it difficult to express their feelings, although over time they had become much more open at expressing how they felt, they had also both had to overcome difficulties and losses in their lives, and he didn't want Cristina to change to suit him, he thought that he had loved her for exactly who she was, and he hoped she knew that.

" I haven't changed, I have just been given the time to decide what I want. When you asked me to marry you Burke, you were constantly asking me where my ring was, why wasn't I wearing it, why haven't I shown it to my friends. You knew that I was not a ring person, I told you that, but you always pushed, always tried to get what you wanted. I wouldn't have minded so much, but you knew so little about me that you picked an over the top flashy ring, that anyone who knew me even slightly would know that I would hate, but you were more interested in buying a ring that showed how successful you were rather than one that your future wife would actually like."

Burke's eyes widened in shock, it was true, that he wanted her to have a substantial ring, one befitting the wife of an eminent surgeon, but he had never really thought that any women could possibly find offence in a beautiful 4 carat princess cut diamond ring. Cristina was not any women, he knew that, she still had the capacity to surprise him.

"Do you know, when Owen gave me this ring," she held up her left hand indicating her wedding band and engagement ring, "he said, I know you are not a ring person, and if you don't want to wear it that is fine, but it would make him happy if I just wore it sometimes, and do you know what Burke, when someone cares about what you want, you care about what they want. Maybe I wanted to wear this ring for him, because he knew me well enough to know what sort of ring there was even the slightest chance I would want to wear, and because he loves me enough to let me make my own decision about when and where I do wear it." She had started out talking to Burke firmly but calmly, but by the time she had finished she was really angry. How dare he question her motives for doing something. He was not a part of her life anymore and had no right to encroach on her time, or her private life.

"Thank god." thought Owen silently to himself. "Thank god she does not feel that I have pressured her into anything, " Owen felt himself calm down. He knew her better than Burke did, she had said that, and it made him feel less worried about the conversation going on below him. He felt that Burke wanted Cristina back, but remembered what Cristina had said to him. He needed to trust her, because she said that together they were invincible. Owen sincerely hoped so.

"Dr Burke," Cristina said formally, "I believe that you have taken up enough of my time, time that you lost the right to three years ago when you walked out of my life. You made your choice, so now you will have to live with that choice, but I would like to thank you for doing me the biggest favour that anyone has ever done for me, because without a doubt if we had got married, we would have both been miserable."

Burke looked devastated at this last speech, he knew that he would not have been miserable with her, hell, he had been more miserable without her than he dared to admit, and a part of him thought that she would feel the same. For years his pride had stopped him crawling back to her, begging her to take him back, but now he was too late. "Well Cristina, your husband is a lucky man, and I suppose two out of three isn't bad." He said as she was turning to leave.

Cristina turned around to look at him quizzically. "what do you mean by two out of three isn't bad?" There was a hint of question in Cristina's voice, which all those listening into the conversation picked up on.

Both Teddy and Owen sat a little more upright in the gallery, in response to the tone of Cristina's voice, both now as curious as Cristina as to what Burke had meant..

"There was three things that I really wanted from you, that you refused to give me. Dr Hunt has two of those things from you, but I am betting that even he will not get the third thing." explained Burke smarmily

"Oh you are so wrong Burke, he will definitely be getting all three." she smirked at Burke, somewhat unkindly.

"So, you are planning on having a family? I thought you were going to be a cardio god?"

"I have every intention of being a cardio god, and with the help and support of my Husband, I will be able to achieve that goal, and be a Mum. Just for the record, I am not just planning to have a family, I am twelve weeks pregnant." she finished triumphantly, and in that split second Cristina knew that she wanted to start telling people about the baby. Telling Burke had felt great, and he wasn't even one of the people that she really wanted to know. Cristina had to go and find Owen, and go tell their news to Meredith and Callie.

In the gallery, Owen smiled, and Teddy's mouth dropped open. She was looking intently at Owen, expecting him to say something, but he remained silent, but beaming ear to ear. "Congratulations." whispered Teddy, the only word she had said since entering the gallery. Owen looked at her to thank her, but noticing the less than thrilled look on her face, and picking up that she had removed her hand from his arm, he deducted that the sentiment was hollow.

"We are both delighted." he responded instead.

Burke, was quite for a moment, somewhat knocked off his stride. "So Cristina, is this a one off, or do you intend to have any more." asked Burke, already suspecting that he knew the answer to his question, after all, with the hours an attending and fellow had to put in, any social life at all was difficult, let alone raising a family.

Cristina gave him a smile. "Not that it is any of your business, I was thinking that three would be nice, but that is just between you and me, Owen doesn't even know that yet."

"Nice work Hunt," Owen murmured to himself in the gallery , in response to what he had just heard. Maybe what he wanted and what he got might be the same thing this time.

"So the girl who didn't want to wear a ring, or change her name, or have a family is suddenly doing all three. Maybe I should have just married you, and then waited for you to change your mind." he said sadly

Cristina did not even make eye contact with Burke, as she walked out of the OR, shouting back at him." I wouldn't have changed my mind. I guess I did want to wear a ring, and change my name, and have babies, but just not with you."


	4. Chapter 4 All about us

**Thank you for continuing to read my fiction, and for the reviews that you have left. I will try and post the next chapter by next weekend, but then I am on holiday for a couple of weeks, escaping the British winter, and the laptop will not be going with me, so the chapter after next will not be posted until probably the 21****st**** Feb. As usual, I would like to point out that I do not own any characters, etc etc.**

**All about us.**

**Cristina needed to find Owen, she felt slightly shaken following her altercation with Burke, although it had felt good to put him in his place. Burke no longer held any personal fascination for her, and she felt she had made that clear, but now she had told him about the baby, she wanted to make sure her friends heard the news from her. After what she had said to him, perhaps being intentionally cruel, she could not count on his discretion. She made her way towards the ER.**

**In the gallery, Teddy said to Owen "I thought the whole wedding thing was quite sudden, I didn't think that anyone rushed into marriage anymore because of an unplanned pregnancy, but you always were an old fashioned guy at heart." Owen could not believe what he was hearing. "I believed you when you told me that you could deal with this, and that you were happy for me, what makes you think that this is not exactly what I want, or that this pregnancy was unplanned?"**

**Teddy sighed, " I know you Owen, I know your values and morals, and I know that you would not be trying for a baby before you got married, or before you had your own home. Lets face it, you didn't officially live together until you got married did you." When Owen failed to respond, Teddy continued " I haven't known Cristina very long, but I have been meeting people like her for my whole life. She is smart, and talented, but she is also very ambitious, and frankly, I didn't even think that she would have any children, let alone before completing her fellowship. I know that Yang was not planning to have a baby any time soon, and if she did, it could have been for one reason only, to ensure your life was forever connected to hers."**

"**You don't know what you are talking about." Owen said forcefully. "I bought Cristina's engagement ring over a year ago, I have not rushed into anything, and as you quite rightly stated, in this day and age there is no need for anyone to go through with an unwanted pregnancy. Our baby is very much loved and wanted, and while my mother instilled strong moral values into me, and I wanted to be married to the mother of my children, if Cristina had not wanted that, I would have accepted any terms she wanted to dictate for our relationship, because she is more important to me than anything. I guess I am just really lucky that she wanted me to have the things that I want and that shows me that I am important to her too."**

"**I'm sorry Owen, I didn't mean to upset you, I guess I am just overprotective of you, I just thought that perhaps Cristina wanted to secure her place in your life because I am here." Teddy said.**

" **Teddy you were not a consideration for either of us. Cristina knows that you are not a threat to our relationship, because at new year, she told me that she didn't want me to be with her out of obligation. She knew that you and I had some sort of special bond, and she offered me an out if that was what I wanted." Teddy's mouth gaped open slightly on hearing this news, she snapped it shut again, without responding, not really knowing what to say. Owen continued. " I made it really clear to her, that it was her that I wanted, and frankly, even if Cristina had left me, now that I know what real love is, I would not settle for anything less, and what I once felt for you , I know is not, and never could be enough for me. I'm sorry I hurt you, it was not my intention, but you need to accept the situation. This is a great place to work, with great people, and that is all I promised you when I called you about this job."**

**Teddy's eyes had filled with tears, but she refused to cry in front of Owen, so she swallowed really hard, and said, " I understand perfectly Dr Hunt, and I think that it would be beneficial to both of us, if we kept things strictly professional from now on." with that comment, Teddy turned and walked out of the OR gallery.**

**Owen followed a little behind her, he didn't want things to be difficult between them. She had been his friend for many years, and he had brought her here, into his and Cristina's life, but he didn't want to continue this conversation now, he wanted to find his wife.**

**Cristina was in the pit talking to Lexie and Ryan when Owen came in. She gave him a smile, and said, "Hi, I've been looking for you . Have you got time for a quick chat in private? Have you had lunch?" Owen smiled back " No, I haven't eaten yet, I was waiting for you, lets go we can talk on the way." **

**They both said goodbye to Drs Grey and Spalding, and made their was to the place with the food. Owen was the first to speak. "I was waiting for you in the gallery, and heard your conversation with Dr Burke. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just couldn't leave once I heard him talking to you. I'm sorry." Cristina stopped walking and turned towards Owen. "You don't have to be sorry, I don't think that I said anything to Burke, that you don't already know, but I hope that you are not angry, because I think that in a way I needed to tell him how I felt, and let him know, that I have moved on." **

"**I'm not angry" he replied, "just a bit confused, it was almost as if you were gloating, trying to make him jealous, and I don't understand why you would want to do that?" he questioned. **

"**I wasn't trying to gloat. I'm happy, and I don't think that there is anything wrong with telling him that." Owen smiled slightly, and said, I'm glad your happy Cris, I just hope that one day soon, you will have moved on so far, that what he does or thinks will be the last thing on your mind."**

" **Burke seemed to think that doing what he did was some sort of gift to me, because he is such a high and mighty person, and because he always knows what is best for others," she responded quietly," and maybe he was right, but I suppose I just wanted him to know that you don't always have to push so hard to get the best out of people." She reached out and stroked her husbands arm. "I promise you, that you have witnessed the last conversation that I will be having with Dr Burke, at least the last personal one." Cristina grabbed Owens hand and pulled him into a walk.**

**Cristina continued talking by saying " As it seems you are aware of part of what I wanted to talk to you, perhaps we can discuss the other thing?" "Ok" said Owen, "what else did you want to talk about." "Well," said Cristina, "I know it is a little bit early, but I thought that perhaps we should think about telling our friends about the baby. What do you think?" **

"**Cristina, I can't wait to start telling people, I'm excited, and as long as you are happy, then I am happy to take out an ad in the Seattle Times." He chuckled. **

" **I was thinking of something a little more low key, perhaps drinks at Joes, that way, we just tell everyone together." said Cristina . Owen pulled Cristina towards him, and kissed her on the forehead. "Perfect, now lets go and eat, I don't want my baby starving ." He smiled.**

**Owen and Cristina, invited all of the regulars to join them for drinks after shift, and most accepted. Derek and Meredith arrived first, followed shortly after by Callie, Arizona, and Lexie. Mark was still in surgery, and finally Teddy, Karev, and Avery, arrived about 20 minutes later. Owen was slightly surprised to see Teddy, following her request to keep it professional, he had not invited her, then realised shamefully that he had omitted telling Cristina about his conversation, with Teddy, and that he had not told her that Teddy was in the gallery with him, and was therefore already aware of her pregnancy. Cristina had invited Teddy, her mentor, and Alex, but had made it clear that Reed was not welcome, out of respect for Izzie. Meredith didn't like the way that Reed was pursuing Alex, despite the fact that she knew that he and Izzie were still married, and Cristina would not want anyone at her gathering who would annoy Mer. With retrospect she should have told Alex that Avery wasn't welcome either, as she did not want anyone at her gathering that would annoy her, and the way he looked at her annoyed her, and more importantly would annoy Owen if he picked up on Avery constantly giving his wife the once over.**

**When everyone had arrived, Owen has arranged for Joe to bring out champagne for everyone, except Cristina, who had her flute filled instead with tonic water, and stood up to make a toast. "As you all know, Cristina and I are celebrating being married for two weeks, and wanted, to share some news with you all. Both of our Mum's are busy arranging a party for us, and you will all be getting your invitations shortly, but we wanted to take this opportunity to tell you all that my wife and I," Cristina rolled her eyes, and all her friends laughed, "would like to announce that we are expecting our first child." Meredith screamed, and immediately jumped up, Owen ignored her, and said, "so please can you all raise your glasses, in a toast to Cristina, who has made me happier than I deserve to be." everyone politely raised their glasses, apart from Meredith, who was trying to wedge herself in between Cristina and Owen. "Meredith, " said Cristina laughing" we don't hug, and just because I'm pregnant, don't think I am going to go soft. "**

"**I was not trying to hug you. What happened to my dark and twisty friend?" she said quietly. "I think we need to talk." "Later." responded Cristina, "People are trying to congratulate me." Cristina turned back towards Owen, and accepted congratulations from Callie and Lexie, both of whom seemed genuinely delighted for them both.**

**After the flurry of activity, Cristina and Owen started to mingle with the people they had invited. Derek was talking about how he wanted to have children, and that he could not wait to teach his kids to fish and swim, during his touching confession, Meredith remained silent, and rolled her eyes, while he continued to chat wistfully.**

**Teddy was at the bar getting more drinks when Owen and Cristina reached her table, so they sat and talked to Avery and Karev. "You are a very very lucky man Dr Hunt," said Jackson Avery, as despite admitting to himself that Cristina was seriously involved with Hunt, and that he would probably never get a chance with her, he always had a quiet fantasy, that things would get too complicated at work, and that too many disagreements at the hospital would spill over into home life, and ultimately force them apart. Of course, in this fantasy Cristina would realise that she had always had a thing for him. However! a wedding and baby announcement in the space of three weeks seemed pretty much a forever commitment, even in his mind, but despite his the warmth of his congratulations, Jackson Avery was gutted. He was not the only one. "Come on Karev," he said, trying to remove himself from the company of the object of his affection, and her husband, "lets have a game of darts," Alex nodded, and they both left the table.**

**The door opened, and Mark Sloan walked in, he was greeted by Owen, and together they walked over to Derek's table. Seeing Cristina without Owen for the first time, Meredith excused herself, and made her way over to the table.**

"**So" said Meredith.**

"**What?" Replied Cristina.**

"**Are you going to change specialties, you know with the baby and everything? I mean cardio is going to be pretty much impossible, at the same time as raising a baby." Meredith was rambling a little, but Cristina picked up that there had been no words of congratulations, no excitement, although those around them may have mistaken her scream at the announcement as excitement, Cristina knew better.**

"**Of course not. I know that it will be hard work but it is possible." Cristina replied. At this point, Teddy had returned, with a new pitcher of beer, and shots, obviously ready to party.**

"**Dr Altman," Started Meredith. " I was just saying to Cristina, that cardio is an incredibly demanding specialty, and I wondered if you think it is possible to complete such a specialty while raising a baby?"**

" **I think that," Teddy took a drink, as if planning her words carefully, "Cristina is the most talented, focussed and hardworking resident that I have met, but even with all that focus and talent, you will find it impossible. Something will have to give. You will either compromise your career and change to a softer specialty, or you will compromise your personal life, and end up in a pseudo successful marriage, with a man you resent, and a child you don't understand. You should of waited." she finished speaking, and drank two of the shots in front of her in rapid succession.**

**Cristina's eyes went back and forth between the two women. These women believed in her more than she believed in herself, and neither of them thought that she could do this. Meredith was nodding as if agreeing with everything that Teddy was saying, and Teddy was continuing to drink, as though they were about to stop serving alcohol forever. Dumfounded, all that she could say was "I will figure out something, I will make it work, I have to."**

**Suddenly the evening seemed flat, and Cristina desperately wanted to go home. She wanted to lie in her husbands arms while he reassured her that she was badass, that she could be a hardcore cardio goddess, and the best mum that she could be, ( her expectations of her parenting skills were not as high, as they were for her profession). Cristina sought out Owen, who was now playing darts with Sloan against Avery and Karev.**

"**Owen, I hate to break up the party, but I am exhausted, and really need to go home. Do you want to stay, and I will see you later?" Cristina knew that there was no way that he would leave her to go home alone, but she wanted to present him with the option. "Of course not." he replied. "I will go and get our coats and we will go." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, and after about five minutes of goodbyes, made their way to the doors leading out of Joe's. Owen stepped ahead of Cristina, opening the door for her, and placing his hand on the small of her back as he followed her out of the door. Once outside, he curved his arm around her slender frame and pulled her under his arm. "You are not really tired are you?" he asked her. "No, just pissed." she replied biting her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Want to talk about it?" he added supportively, one of the greatest things about Owen, Cristina thought, was that he knew when to wait for her to talk, and when she needed a push, she smiled looking up at him, and said "yes, I do, that's why I wanted to leave Joe's, but do you mind if we wait until we get home? It is not something that I want to tell you about in the street." **

**Owen nodded his agreement, his mind was working overtime. If Meredith had upset her, he would be really angry, he was fed up with her constantly telling Cristina, that Owen was too damaged, could not be trusted, was too volatile, and that things between him and Cristina had moved too quickly. Too be fair some of what she said was true, he was damaged goods, and Cristina probably did deserve better, but he was prepared to do whatever it took to be that better man for her, and he knew in his heart that nobody could ever love Cristina Yang, no Cristina Hunt, he mentally corrected himself, as much or as well as he did.**

**The remainder of the walk from Joe's to their apartment was completed in a comfortable silence. Cristina rested her head on Owens shoulder, and had her arm around his waist, her hand in the rear pocket of his jeans, and Owen had her held against him, his arm around her shoulder, and holding her free hand, which she has raised to meet his. They were happy in their own little bubble, no influences from the outside world, no pressure from work, just two people, in love, wrapped around one another, both knowing that others would intrude their peace all too soon.**

**Owen let her into the apartment door, and helped her off with her coat. "Ok, out with it. Is it Meredith?" asked Owen, as he sat down, and pulled Cristina onto his lap. "No. Yes, well kind of," was her garbled reply. Owen smiled. Conversations between him and Cristina, regarding Meredith were never easy, and by the sounds of it ,this conversation was going to be like all of the others.**

"**What did she say sweetheart?" he coaxed gently. **

"**She said that cardio is too hard a specialty for me to successfully complete while raising a baby. She doesn't think that I can manage both." She paused waiting for his opinion. **

"**well," he started carefully, we knew that raising this child, along side the demands of our work, was not going to be easy, but I think that it is up to us to decide what we can and can't manage don't you?" he added**

"**What if I can't manage, what if she is right and I can't do it all. I've worked my whole life to become a cardio god, and I would hate to have to give up that dream, and I don't want to look back in 10 years, and regret the choices I made, I don't want to look back, and resent you and our child because I had to give up my dream." Cristina sighed, and leaned her head against Owens. **

"**Sweetheart, what are you trying to tell me, are you saying that you have changed our mind, that you don't want to keep the baby?" Owen held his breath, he knew that Cristina had more ambition than anyone he knew, and that a child now would certainly affect the way in which she could apply that ambition, but she was not usually one to change her mind, and he hoped to god she was not going to start now.**

**Cristina went stiff in his arms. "Why would you say that? Why would you suggest I would abort our baby? Has Teddy said something to you?" she finished accusingly. **

"**Teddy, what has Teddy got to do with this?" Owen asked in genuine confusion. **

"**Teddy told me that what I was trying to do was impossible, and that if I tried to do both, that I would fail either professionally or personally. Is that what she said to you too?" Cristina added.**

**Owen took a deep breath. "Cristina I should have told you earlier, but Teddy was in the gallery with me today. We both heard you talking to Burke, and she has known since then that you are pregnant. You should also know that she has told me that she is in love with me, and that she thought you only got pregnant at this time because it would keep me with you. I told her in no uncertain terms that we are both looking forward to being parents, and that my only interest in her was that of a friend and colleague. In the circumstances she does not feel we can be friends anymore, so I suspect she is making you have doubts, to hurt us, because I hurt her." said Owen softly. " I am so sorry." he finished.**

"**Wow" said Cristina, "My old mentor, ended up leaving me at the altar, my new love interest finds me a new mentor, that is in love with my love, and is now at war with him, and I am going to be a hormonal fat pregnant chick stuck in the middle of war between two of the most important people in my life. God its like something out of a soap opera." she finished with a slightly bemused look on her face. **

**Noting her more relaxed expression, Owen smiled and said, " So, when you were talking about not wanting to regret your choices what did you mean? what were you thinking?" **

"**I was thinking that maybe they are right, Meredith and Teddy, maybe I can't do it all. I probably can't do it all really well anyway, so maybe I should do some bits really well, and let someone else do the rest." She looked at the blank expression on his face, and smirked a little. **

"**Cristina, I am really not following. I get that you want to be a cardio god. No compromise, nothing less than 100% commitment right." Cristina nodded agreement at his statement. "Are you suggesting that I give up work and look after the baby?" Owen looked a little shocked, and although the thought had never crossed Cristina's mind, she thought that it was a good one. **

"**I think that that would be an excellent solution, because you are going to be the best dad in the world, but I am not sure that we could afford to lose your substantial head of trauma salary." Cristina laughed, and Owen sighed in relief.**

"**I always thought that Meredith would be there to support me, and I need her to be my person throughout this pregnancy, and after the baby is born when I'm freaking out because I don't know what I am doing , but after tonight, well I don't know if she will be. My person that is." Cristina paused, and then continued. "Then there is Teddy, the first person to really believe in me since Burke left, she lets me work on hearts, she has taught me, and she knew what I was capable of even when I didn't know I was capable of it, and she doesn't think that I can do this, neither of them think that I can do this, and I want to do this really really well, but the people who know me best don't think that I can, so I need to do something different, I need a solution, that does not involve either of us giving up our talent, or giving up this baby, and although my mother, and your mother, will be absolutely appalled, I think that we should consider a live in nanny, for when my maternity leave is finished."**

**It was quite a speech, and Owen listened carefully and silently, to ensure that he had not misunderstood. She was concerned that she could not handle a career and a baby, because Meredith, I freak out over everything, Grey, and Teddy, I have been in the army and never seen anyone juggle a career and parenthood at the same time, Altman, told her that she couldn't manage. Owen knew that many of her fears were unfounded, but knew he needed to handle her carefully.**

"**Cristina, in Iraq, the servicemen and women who had children, all had to leave them at home obviously, so Teddy has never known anyone who has looked after a child while completing her career goals, so the concept is alien to her. Bailey did it, Ellis Grey did it, and I don't think that they have half of the determination you have." **

"**Yes but Ellis screwed Meredith up totally with all her focus on work," Cristina interrupted. **

" **I know, but Ellis was a single parent trying to do it all, and granted she didn't do so well with the parenting bit, but you have me, and between us I know that we can be hands on parents and still achieve our career goals. I know you pretty well too, and I know that you do not fail at anything that you set your mind on achieving, and we are a team, together we can do anything that we want to. Remember Cristina, that they may not like that we are having a baby now, but we are, and we will find a solution to any problem that comes along, and if getting a nanny, live in or otherwise is the solution, then that is what we will do, but we will do it when we are ready, and when we know that that is the solution. This is not about Meredith, or Teddy, or our Mums for that matter, it is about our life together, and our choices for that life. This is about you, me and our child. Our family. The Hunts." Owen smiled, seeing that it had worked, that Cristina was calm.**

**Owen was always the voice of reason, he made her realise that there was no need for her to make any snap decisions. It would be a year before she needed any child care, if she took her full maternity leave, and she would know by then if she was struggling with parenthood, and needed some additional support, and that realisation made her feel better, he made her feel better, just like she knew he would when she had said that she wanted to leave Joe's.**

"**She will come round won't she," murmured Cristina, referring to her person.**

"**Of course she will, after all, what is one twisted sister without the other." Owen replied laughing.**

**Cristina leaned forward to tenderly kiss her husband "Thank you." she whispered against his mouth. **

"**What for?" he whispered back.**

"**For reminding me, that we are what matters, the people who live in this apartment," she smiled, and stood up pulling Owen with her towards the bedroom, whilst continuing her conversation. "Thank you for reminding me that others can only influence my decisions, our decisions, if we let them, and this is too important, this has nothing to do with any of our friends or family, it is all about us."**


	5. Chapter 5 Let me be your person

**Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter, I was on holiday for a couple of weeks, and this chapter seems to have taken on life of its own, a is a fair bit longer than usual. I hope that this has not resulted in the chapter being too slow, as there is a lot more background, and throughts than I have done previously. I hope that you enjoy it. As usual, I would like to say that I do not own any of these characters, and that this is writen for and not profit etc.**

Let me be your person.

Owen lay in bed, sleep eluding him. His mind was working overtime, but it was not a complicated surgery, a terminal patient, or memories of Iraq that was keeping him awake, it was his personal life. True, he was madly in love with his wife, who lay snoring gently next to him, and he was looking forward to being a Dad, in fact he wasn't sure how he was going to survive the wait for the baby to arrive he was that excited. They had even found a house, which they would be moving into during Cristina's final trimester, so things should be perfect, but it wasn't.

Several weeks had passed since Cristina and Owen had announced their impending parenthood, and things had been a little strange. Teddy was still ignoring Owen, in anything other than medical matters, despite the fact that he had tried on several occasion's to talk to her, and salvage some sort of relationship. Cristina was finding it more difficult to get onto Teddy's service, after Teddy told Cristina that all the residents needed to be on her service on rotation, something which did not ring true to Owen. He was sure that her reluctance to have Cristina on her service was either because she was so jealous that she could not work with her, or that she was intentionally excluding her, to punish Owen for hurting her. Teddy knew how committed Owen was to supporting Cristina's career goals, and knew that he had invited her to mentor Cristina, and maybe, Owen thought, that her refusal to continue with that mentoring, was the only way that she could get back at Owen, for not realising her feelings for him. Finally, and possibly most importantly, Meredith was being distant to say the least, and it hurt him to see how effected Cristina was by the withdrawal of her person. He wanted to fill the gap that she left in Cristina's life, but was found lacking, and all his attempts to dance it out with her had ended disastrously.

Owen turned towards Cristina, trying to get comfortable, his movement making Cristina disturb in her sleep, and a frown crossed her face. He was concerned that the situation between Meredith and Cristina was causing her unnecessary stress, and despite everything with the baby being as it should be, he could not help worrying about the effect of this stress on his wife and unborn Child, and it was this in mind, that he decided to do something that he never thought he would do. Owen had to fix things between his wife and her best friend. He would have to do this for the sake of his family's health, before he could consider trying to fix things between himself and his best friend.

If Owen was honest, he should have welcomed the rift between Meredith and Cristina, as, just like Derek, he often felt that there were three people in his marriage. Since the choking incident, Meredith firmly opposed Cristina's decision to take Owen back, and the speed at which the relationship had progressed to where they were now, and he resented her always forcing her opinion on Cristina. He felt as though Meredith would have talked Cristina out of the relationship if she could of, and he did not miss her being around one bit, but he loved Cristina too much, not to try and do something to bring her person back to her. He knew she needed her friend, so he would have to fix it, after all wasn't that a mans role? To go hunting, and fix things? With this in mind, Owen closed his eyes and once again attempted to get some sleep.

Owen felt almost hung over when he awoke after nearly three hours sleep. The sound of the shower running in the en suite indicated that Cristina was already getting ready for work. He climbed out of bed, and padded to the bathroom, opening the door quietly. Cristina was busy shampooing her hair, and did not hear the bathroom door, although she felt the change in temperature as soon as Owen opened the shower door, to join her inside. He immediately moved her hands, and continued the job of shampooing her hair, rinsing it thoroughly with the shower spray, before turning her around to kiss her gently at first, and then with more passion. "Good morning Dr Hunt," Owen murmured in his wife's ear.

"Good morning to you, also Dr Hunt." Cristina responded laughingly. They loved to shower together. Early in their relationship, Cristina used to tease Owen, that it was just because they had ended up in the shower together on their first date, and he could not remember it, that he was keen to keep retrying the experience to try and jog his memory. Owen, unfortunately for him, had actually remembered all of the embarrassing incident, and did not want to relive it, but he loved the intimacy and the closeness of being in the shower together, he loved washing her hair, and holding her, while the warm spray ran over them both. They completed their shower in silence, kissing from time to time, Owen caressing her expanding bump. After climbing out of the shower, and wrapping a towel round his waist, Owen said, "I thought that it might be nice to go out for dinner after work this evening if that's ok with you?"

"That would be nice. What's the occasion?" she asked her husband.

"There isn't one. I just thought that we should seize the opportunity to go out while we still can, and still want to." he replied. "Soon we will not be able to go out without planning baby sitters, so I thought that I would try and be spontaneous while we can. I am really looking forward to us having our baby, we will soon have another member of the family to consider, it wont just be what we want any more." he explained his thought process. Cristina smiled.

"I was only teasing you. I love you, and I would love to go out for dinner with you, but I hope you have plenty of money, because I am eating for two you know." she was openly laughing at him, and he stared at her. It seems like she had not laughed in weeks, and Owen liked seeing her smile again. He plucked the tube of moisturiser, that she was holding, and poured a generous amount onto the palm of his hands, rubbed his hands together, and pulled her towards him, so that he could rub the cream onto her baby bump, as he had done, work depending ,every day since she had told him that it would hopefully stop her getting stretch marks as her waistline expanded, he wouldn't mind any stretch marks, and suspected, that with her small frame, she would be very lucky to come through the pregnancy without any marks. When he finished moisturising her abdomen, Cristina got dressed, and went into the kitchen to make coffee.

Owen followed her, and sat down. "So, have you seen much of Meredith over the last couple of days?" asked Owen.

"Not really." she replied, "I mean, I have seen her at work, and we have eaten lunch together, but she doesn't get that I feel I have reason to be upset about what she said to me, and until she understands why I am hurt, I am not sure that I can forget." Cristina busied herself with pouring coffee into her travel cup, and Owen waited to see if she had anything further to say. "I guess I am not ready to forgive her either," Cristina continued. "For years I have listened to all her McDreamy dramas, and I have supported her through them, I suppose that I expected her to support me, while I am facing something that it new and scary for me." Cristina gave Owen a sad smile, and he immediately moved towards her and tugged her gently into his embrace, kissing her forehead.

"I hate that I have come between you two, and that you are feeling hurt and abandoned at the moment, but I can't be sorry for what has happened, because I am happier than I have ever been, and I am just sad that what is happening with Meredith has taken the shine away for you." Owen looked into Cristina's eyes, keen to try and work out what she was thinking, and feeling. He could see the sadness there, and was relieved to see that the anxiety that he had noticed over the last few weeks had subsided.

"It will be ok." Cristina reassured him, "after all, this isn't the first fight that we have had, and I am sure it won't be the last." Owen smiled at her defiance. "Anyway, I will get my revenge, when McDreamy wants her to start popping out perfect haired, chatty children, and she is freaking out. By then I will be the expert, and will spend all my time telling her how horrific pregnancy, childbirth, and being a working mum is, until she is that scared she won't be able to think straight." Owen smiled at this statement, and said

"You are a cruel woman Cristina Hunt, and I can't imagine what I see in you."

"Course you can honey," she answered cockily "I look hot in my scrubs, and give you sex." Owen laughed once again, and kissed her.

"Yes you do, how I could forget, anyway, much though I am enjoying myself, I think that it is time that we went to work."

"Hi Owen." said Derek Shepherd, looking up from the paperwork he was doing in his newly acquired, chief of surgery office.

"Shepherd?" Owen responded, "Can I talk to you?"

"Yes, sure, come on in." Derek stopped what he was doing, put his pen down, and gave Owen his full attention. "What is bothering you?" Derek asked.

"My half of the twisted sisters is what is bothering me, or rather her strained relationship with your half of the twisted sisters." Owen stated.

"Right," said Derek. "I never thought that there would come a time, when I was sorry that I wasn't being woken up by Cristina ringing Meredith in the middle of the night, or turning up in my bedroom with coffee at five am, because she needed girl talk with Meredith." Derek shook his head slightly indicating his disbelief in the situation.

"Come on Shepherd, you are exaggerating, firstly, she only did that recently if I was at the hospital overnight, and she was bored, and we all know that Cristina does not talk girl, and is therefore not capable of doing girl talk." Owen laughed, wanting to lighten the mood. "The thing is," he continued "I am worried about Cristina, she has already lost one baby, and although everything is going ok, I am concerned that this rift between her and Meredith, is putting unnecessary stress on her. I want to find a way to help them patch things up, and I was hoping that you would help me." Owen waited, while Derek digested what he had said.

"I agree that they need to straighten things out. They need each other, but they are both so stubborn, I don't know how we are going to make them sit down and talk. After all they are grown women, we can't sit them down like children and force them to make friends." he finished.

"Well that is pretty much what I was thinking. I thought we could go out to dinner, give them a talking too, and then leave them to it while we retire to the bar. What do you think?" said Owen.

"I think that with your military training, and experience with dealing with hostiles, that if that is the best you can come up with, the US army have some serious problems." Derek chuckled, he could picture the trouble that they would both be in, if they forced the ladies into one another's company before they were ready.

"If we are going to do this, we need to sow the seeds before we meet, maybe get each of them to see the others point of view." added Derek thoughtfully.

"Ok, well Cristina is scared, she always thought that her person would be their for her, if she needed support, and now that she needs that reassurance that she can do this, she is missing Meredith's expected encouragement." Stated Owen.

"Good, I can talk to her about that, perhaps let her know how much Crisitina needs a friend at the moment, and how much she is missed." replied Derek.

"Do you know why Meredith is so upset about the baby? Is it me she is pissed with still?" asked Owen, the pain showing on his face.

"Try not to take it too personally Owen. Meredith and Crisitina have seen each other through so much, that they are very protective of each other. Cristina has never liked me, because of the whole Addison thing, and it has taken her 6 years to accept me as part of Meredith's life. I guess Meredith is in the same place with you, and the PTSD didn't help, although I know that Cristina has forgiven you, I think that Meredith is still worried." said Derek steadily.

"And I appreciate how much she cares about Cristina, I guess I just need her to realise how much I care about her too." Owen placed his head in his hands, and Derek patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"It will blow over Owen, problems between Meredith and Cristina always do."

"I know it will," Owen replied "It is just that I don't have the time to let this just blow over. Cristina is upset, and stressed, and while that would just usually mean she was a bit more difficult to live with, something that I know I could cope with, she is pregnant. She has already lost one baby, and her blood pressure was high at her last check up. I have to take action, because I cannot sit by and let something happen to the most important things in my life my wife and baby." Owen had become increasingly more upset while he was speaking.

"Ok," said Derek. "I will talk to Meredith, and we will meet you at the restaurant.

"Thanks Shepherd, I owe you one." said Owen, getting up to leave.

"Well, let's just hope that it doesn't backfire on us, and we both end up sleeping on the coach." Derek smiled. Owen once again expressed his thanks, and walked towards the ER.

Meredith collected coffee from the barista on the first floor, and walked towards her husband's office. She had received his page, five minutes previously, and wanted to collect her caffeine fix en route. "Hi," she said, as she walked in.

"Hi there," he replied, "Come and sit down, I wanted to talk to you."

"Sure, what about." Meredith placed Derek's cup of coffee in front of him, and took a deep drink from her own cup.

"I want to talk to you about Owen." he paused for a moment, noting the raise of Meredith's eyebrows. "He is really worried about Cristina, her blood pressure is up, and he is worried that something will go wrong with the pregnancy, or that Crisitina will become ill." Derek explained.

"He should have thought about that before impregnating her in her third year of residency. He knows how hard the hours are for a resident, let alone a pregnant one." said Meredith harshly.

"We both know that the pregnancy wasn't planned, but that they made a decision as a couple to keep their baby. Cristina wants this as much as Owen." Derek said gently. He was trying his best not to make the conversation confrontational, the idea of him speaking to Meredith, was to try and bring her round, and he wasn't sure that he was succeeding. Meredith remained silent.

"Maybe if you talked to Cristina, or watched her and Owen together, you would realise how happy she is about where her and Owen are. The only thing disrupting her happiness is that you are not happy for her, and I think that you miss her as much as she misses you." Derek moved from his seat while talking to Meredith, and perched on the edge of his desk, so that he could see her reaction to what he had said. After a moments thought, she spoke choosing her words carefully.

"I do miss her, but nothing is the same since she got married. I feel like I am second best, and I will have even less in common with my best friend, once the baby is born. I think it is best just to withdraw gracefully." she said. Derek laughed, and Meredith looked shocked at his reaction.

"Mer, she has been your best friend, your person, for six year. In that time, how many times, has Cristina played second fiddle to me, only to be left to pick up the pieces when we fought. The least you can do is return the compliment." Derek pulled his wife forward, and swiftly kissed her.

"Ok. I will give it a shot." was her only response, as she left the office.

"Meredith," He shouted after her. Meredith stopped and turned round, giving him a questioning look. "I will meet you out front after shift. I am taking you to dinner." said Derek, before returning to his seat, and looking back at his paperwork.

Derek and Meredith were already in the restaurant when Cristina and Owen arrived. Derek had told Meredith, that they were meeting someone, but had refused to tell her who. She shot him a withering look. "You said you would try Mer, I thought this would give you're the opportunity on neutral territory." Meredith remained silent, and observed the couple who had just walked in.

Owen had opened the door for his wife, and as she passed him to walk into the reception, had paused raising her lips to his, stealing a quick kiss on the way past. Owen smiled, and once she had preceded him through the doors, put his arm around Cristina's waist, guiding her towards the hostess. A conversation took place with the hostess, which Meredith could not hear, and then Owen helped Cristina off with her coat, and waited for the hostess to show them to their table. Cristina was smiling at something that Owen was whispering in her ear, and she turned into his arms, hugging herself into his side, while he caressed her back with one hand, and swept a stray curl away from her face with the other. Meredith sighed. She had to admit that they did look happy together, the gestures were intimate, and comfortable, and if she was being honest with herself, she was surprised how demonstrative that Cristina was being. Pregnancy hormones, thought Meredith. It was the only explanation for the display of mushiness she was seeing.

Derek stood up, as Owen and Cristina approached, and both of them smiled, and greeted Derek, and then Meredith. There was not any sign of surprise on Cristina's face, which made Meredith feel that she was the only one who was not aware that the four of them were meeting for dinner. Owen held out Cristina's chair, for her, and when she was seated took his own. He immediately placed his hand over Cristina's hand, which she had rested on the edge of the table, and Meredith did not miss the squeeze he gave her hand, and the way his eyes met hers.

"Should we order some drinks?" asked Derek.

"Sure. What would you like Cristina?" asked Owen.

"I will have tonic water, with lime please." she looked at Meredith and said "I try to pretend that there is vodka in it, that way it doesn't feel like I am on the wagon." Meredith recognising the statement, as a conversation opener, asked in response

"Have you discovered a substitute for Tequila yet?"

"No, but that isn't the worse thing, Owen has turned into the caffeine police, and it doesn't matter what brand of decaf coffee we buy, it is just not the same." Everyone laughed. They were all surgeons; they were preconditioned to survive on 3 hours sleep and 6 cups of coffee a day, and not the decaffeinated variety. The conversation moved towards what had happened in the hospital that day, and things were reasonably comfortable by the time they had there drinks, and had ordered their meal. Cristina was enjoying being in a neutral environment with her friend, and Meredith was making an effort with Owen, listening to what he had to say, and watching his interaction with Cristina. Cristina sought out opportunities to touch Owen, resting a hand on his arm, or thigh on occasion, and Owen, whilst deep in conversation with Derek regarding a surgery that he had performed, absently, caressed Cristina's back, and twirled her hair between his thumb and fingers, in a gesture that seemed natural and second nature. Cristina did not look uncomfortable with the contact, which Meredith thought was nice.

Cristina excused herself from the table. "I need to go to the restroom." she said "I need to pee about every half hour since I've been pregnant. If it carries on like this, Lexie wont is the only one wearing diapers for surgery." Owen smiled, and stood up to help Cristina out of her chair, again placing his hand on her back. He had sat down again, and had resumed his conversation, when Derek's pager went off.

"I'm sorry I need to call the hospital, please excuse me." Derek hurried away from the table taking out his phone en route. The conversation that had been taking place around the table now suddenly stopped. Owen looked at Meredith, and gave her a nervous smile.

"She misses you." he said.

"I haven't been anywhere, it is not as though we have fallen out, I guess this is just not an experience I can share with her, I have nothing to offer." replied Meredith.

"She wont expect you to offer anything other than your support, and a non judgemental ear when she needs to moan about me, or being pregnant, or her lack of caffeine." he smiled, trying to break down the barriers Meredith had been steadily building between him and herself.

"She likes you to touch her." said Meredith.

"I am her husband, does that really surprise you?" Owen responded. Meredith sighed.

"I have only ever seen Cristina, in an embrace with three people. The first was her mother, and Cristina was gritting her teeth, while her mother hugged her. The second was Colin Marlow, and Cristina, spent the time he was hugging her trying to stop him feeling her ass." Owen's eyebrows raised at this piece of information, he knew of Dr Colin Marlow, and wondered why he would be hugging Cristina let alone trying to feel her ass, but he was not about to ask Meredith about it. "The third," continued Meredith "was you. You're the only person I have ever seen her initiate an embrace with, and after the choking, while I was telling her not to go out to you, while I was telling her that I was going to kill you, she was opening the bathroom door, and holding you, and comforting you, and that's when I knew." she finished.

"Knew what." asked Owen.

"Knew that you were different, because she was prepared to put herself out there for you, she liked to touch you, and be touched by you. I guess I knew that she was in love with you, even though I didn't want her to be, because I thought that it was too dangerous for her. I was frightened for her, I still am."

"Thank you." said Owen quietly "Thank you for caring, and looking out for her. I hope that you know that if I thought that I was a danger to Cristina or the baby, I would not be within a mile of her. We broke up because I was no good for her, and we didn't start again until I had been through therapy, and was sure that there would not be a repeat of what happened. I know you don't trust me, and I don't expect you to, I just want to make sure I don't come between you two." Owen said "She is everything to me Meredith, and I just want to make things right for her. She is scared, and she needs her person." Meredith gave him a half smile, and said

"I'll always be here for her, sometimes we just need to take a step back, but I miss her, and I even think Derek misses her, he has had to dance it out with me too many times over the last few weeks, and he just hates to do that. It's not very chief like." Meredith giggled, and Owen smiled, remembering his own attempts, which had been far from successful, at dancing it out with Cristina.

Derek returned to the table, having finished his call.

"Is everything Ok?" asked Meredith,

"Fine, I just had to confirm I was attending a fund raiser, it was Jennings from the board, so thankfully, and I could deal with it over the phone." He replied. Owen looked at Derek, a sympathetic look on his face. "How are you finding the job? Is it everything you imagined it would be?" Derek shrugged his shoulders, and took a sip of his wine before answering.

"I like the organising, and the decision making, but I miss the OR. The only time I seem to spend with patients these days, is either overseeing resident's solo surgeries, or dealing with complaints. I can't wait to actually have a neurosurgery that only I can do." Derek shook his head sadly. Meredith looked evenly at him and said,

"Always be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."

Owen, feeling slightly out of place, at what appeared to be a conversation with double meaning between the couple, tried to distract them with another conversation. He needed tonight to be about Meredith and Cristina making up, not about Derek and Meredith disagreeing over his choice to report Richard, and things had appeared to be going well. Where was Cristina? Owen thought, his mind registering that she had gone to the bathroom quite a while ago. Clearing his throat slightly, drawing attention to his presence, Owen said, "Meredith, would you mind checking on Cristina, she has been gone for quite a while."

"Sure," Meredith responded rising from her seat, to go to the ladies bathroom, and leaving the two men alone.

"I take it that Meredith is not happy about you taking over from Richard?" Owen stated.

"I felt that I had a responsibility to the hospital, but I made the decision to report him down to Meredith. I guess she resents me for forcing her into making that decision, but I know it was the right one." Derek looked up at Owen, remembering a conversation that the two men had previously had, and the advice that Owen had given him. He gave Owen a half smile and said "It was the right thing to do; it was the action that kept the most people alive." Owen, in a friendly gesture, patted Derek's arm, which was resting on the table. He was about to offer, further pearls of wisdom, when he heard Meredith shout.

"Owen, Derek come quick, its Cristina." Owen pushed back his chair, with such force, that it fell backwards, and he rushed across the restaurant towards Meredith. Derek followed on is heels, and both men went into the ladies room, where Cristina was unconscious on the floor, bleeding profusely from an injury to her head. As Derek and Owen rushed to Cristina to examine her, Meredith dialled 911, requesting an ambulance ASAP.

"Pupils are dilated, pulse saccadic, we need to get her to the hospital quick," Stated Derek. "Owen, ring Bailey, tell her we are coming in, and ask her to get an OR ready just in case." Owen looked at Derek blankly. He was a trauma surgeon, the best. He could work well under pressure, he could deal with a situation, while planning what he was going to do six steps ahead what he was doing, and here he was stood like an idiot, unable to help his wife, unable to follow his friend's instructions.

"Owen," yelled Meredith, bringing him back to the present. "Ring Bailey now. Cristina needs them to be ready when we get to the hospital." Owen responded selecting Baileys short dial from his mobile phone. "Dr Bailey, it is Hunt here." he didn't pause for her to respond, because time was of the essence, he quickly explained the situation, and gave an ETA of 6 minutes."

"I'll take care of everything." responded Bailey, disconnecting the call.

By the time the ambulance crew had loaded Cristina into the back, Owen had seen her eyes flutter open for a second. Owen climbed into the back of the ambulance, and Derek suggested to the crew, that he and Meredith be allowed to travel in the ambulance, and neither crew member felt inclined to argue with the chief of surgery. Owen was white, he was holding onto Cristina's hand, talking to her, in the hope that she would respond.

"Cristina, can you hear me? If you can hear me please open your eyes, so that I know you are ok." Owen waited in anticipation of some sign from his wife that she could hear him. "Cristina." Owen tried once again, "Please baby, wake up, talk to me, I need you to talk to Me." still there was no response, and Owen began to quietly cry.

"Come on Owen," persuaded Derek. "Come and sit with Meredith, so that I can get closer to monitor Cristina." Owen duly stood up from the spot by Cristina that he was crouching in, and moved silently to sit next to Meredith, putting his head in his hands.

"Owen, I am concerned about how long she has been unconscious. I can see where the head injury is, and hopefully it is not too serious, but the dilated pupils, and state of unconsciousness, make me think that there may be some brain swelling or possibly a minor bleed. We will be ready to operate if it is needed." finished Derek.

"Derek." said Owen slowly "If she needs an operation, you'll do it wont you? I don't want anyone other than you cutting into my wife's brain."

"Of course, but we don't know that she will need that yet, you need to stay positive, I just wanted to cover all the bases, that's why I asked for an OR , just in case." Derek responded without giving Owen a second glance, he was focussed on his patient, his wife's best friend, and it was therefore Meredith, who noticed how agitated Owen was becoming. He was hyperventilating, fidgeting, and on the verge of a full blown panic attack. Meredith squeezed his hand, and passed an oxygen mask to Owen. When he looked at her blankly, she said

"Trust me Owen, it will help. She will never forgive me if I don't make sure you are ok and neither one of us want to be on the wrong side of Cristina Yang." Meredith smiled half heartedly, trying to comfort him, and Owen, after taking a few deep breaths of oxygen, was started to feel a little more focussed.

"Hunt." he said.

"Pardon?" responded Meredith.

"You said that neither of us wanted to be on the wrong side of Cristina Yang." he explained "she is Cristina Hunt." Meredith rubbed Owen's arm, she was really putting herself out there being this tactile, but she knew that after everything that had happened between her and Owen, that this was her opportunity to be a true friend to Cristina. She was worried about her friend, but she knew that Owen needed some support, and she would try and give it, at least until she could come up with a better plan.

The ambulance pulled up in the ambulance bay, and everything happened in a whirl. Bailey was liaising with Derek, shouting orders to the residents and interns on shift. Meredith went to assist in the ER, and was stopped by Bailey. Owen, who had no fight in him, was dispatched to the waiting area, far too easily for Baileys liking, his only request was that Derek come to talk to him, as soon as Cristina was stable, and prior to any surgery, if it was necessary for him to operate on Cristina.

Within 15 minutes, Cristina had been assessed, and Derek was standing opposite Owen in the waiting room.

"She is stable at the moment, and the baby seems Ok," Derek began, "But the CT shows that there has been a fracture of the skull, and a brain bleed. It is not serious, but I do want to perform surgery, to ensure that the pressure on her brain is relieved." Owen remained silent, so Derek continued. "Owen, you are a surgeon, so you know that there are always risks associated with surgery, so we need your consent to go ahead."

"Ok," responded Owen, his voice cracking once again with emotion. "Shepherd, please don't let my wife die, and if it comes to a choice between her and the baby, please make sure that Cristina is first." Owen averted his eyes from Derek, not wanting the man to see the tears once again forming in his eyes. Derek swallowed hard, remembering another man, requesting the same thing of him regarding his pregnant wife, a request that Derek had been unable to carry out.

"Cristina saved Meredith's life once." Derek said to Owen. "Meredith flat lined after drowning, and Crisitina insisted that they carry on with resuscitation, after the chief and Bailey were ready to pronounce her dead. Cristina was adamant that they needed to keep trying, and about 5 minutes later they were able to bring her back. Cristina is the reason that I have a wife, so I'm sure you see why I have no intentions of letting anything happen to her." Owen looked at Derek, and said simply

"Thank you Shepherd." A nurse arrived carrying the paperwork, and Derek left her, to collect the necessary consent from Owen.

Meredith had been waiting patiently outside the ER, and after getting an update from Bailey, she promised that she would go and get some coffee for herself and Owen. Bailey, confident that Hunt would give his consent for the surgery had gone into the ER to see Cristina before they took her down to the OR. Meredith looked at Cristina's grey complexion, and reached for her hand. Talking softly, she said the Cristina's still form. "I am so sorry that I did not support you the way that I should of. You've put up with all my McDrammas, and I should have listened to you, even if I couldn't offer any advice, but I promise you that I will do better. I am going to read up on pregnancy and babies, and I will be the best aunt a child could have, but to prove that to you, you are going to have to fight. You need to come through this surgery, and have this baby, and let me be your person." Meredith was crying by the time she had finished her pep talk, and she hoped to god that Cristina had, at some level, heard her. She left the ER carefully, ensuring that her presence was unnoticed, and walked towards the coffee machine, paging two of the hospitals attending en route.

Meredith had purchased coffees, when the pages she had sent were answered. The first to arrive was Callie. Meredith quickly explained what had happened, and said she thought that she would want to know that her flatmate of 4 years was about to be taken to OR 2 for brain surgery. Callie immediately thanked Meredith, and went to find Owen, after all she had virtually lived with the man, and she had cooked his breakfast most mornings, and knew him better than most people at the hospital. He would need some moral support, and she was there for him. The second page that Meredith sent was to Teddy. She too, answered promptly, but was concerned, that following her disagreement with Owen, that her presence may upset him, and she didn't want to do that, but she wanted him to know that she was their if he needed her, and that she would stay away, until she heard from him. This is what she put into her text message to Owen, before settling down in one of the on call rooms in case he needed her.

"Do you want to wait here, or do you want to go to the gallery?" Callie asked Owen.

"I don't know, I hate not knowing what is going on, but I don't know if I can watch her being cut into." he replied.

"Why don't we go to the gallery, you don't have to watch, and see how you feel, if it is too much, we will leave. I promise you I won't leave you alone." said Callie "Come on." she continued, when he nodded his acceptance of her suggestion, and she led the way to the OR 2 gallery.

When Callie opened the door, she heard "Get out." shouted loudly by Meredith. Callie, ignoring her warning walked in pulling Owen behind her. "Oh hi Callie, Owen. I'm sorry I shouted I just wanted to get her some privacy."

"We understand," said Callie, "How is it going?" "Really well, it is only a minor bleed; Derek has removed it, and a small bone splinter, and has released the pressure on her brain." Owen could feel himself starting to relax at Meredith's words. Well, minor, removed, released, they were all good words, and they all meant that hopefully he would be by her bedside in recovery within the next hour. Owen took a deep breath, his vocal cords, which fear had rendered little more than useless over the last 20 minutes, seemed to have loosened up, and he could swallow.

"How is her blood pressure," asked Owen,

"90 over 70, she is fine Owen; she is going to be fine." Meredith reassured him.

"She has got to be, because I can't be without her," was his only response, more to himself than to either Callie or Meredith. In no time at all, Derek and Bailey were scrubbing out, and Cristina had been taken to a recovery room. Owen insisted that he be allowed in, and the dark look in his eyes prevented anyone from trying to stop him, as frankly there was no stopping McBadass when he was determined that he was doing something, and he was determined that he was not spending another minute separated from Cristina.

Owen sat quietly by her bed for most of the night, leaving only to get more coffee, and water for Crisitina in case she woke up. At about 4.00am, he started to talk to her, reason with her really, trying to convince her to wake up. He was well aware, that hearing is the sense, that is the last to leave, and the first to return, and hoped that his voice would help her return. "You know that I can manage for days without any real sleep Cristina. I did it for months when we first met, because the tiredness was better than the nightmares, but you helped me through those, and now I sleep really well, but I can go back to not sleeping if that is what you want, I will stay awake, until you can talk to me, and I know that you are going to be ok." Owen smiled, thinking about the time that he first slept without nightmares, and that he had told her it was because of her, because she had been to see his Mom with him. "Everything seems fine with the baby, they did an ultrasound, and the heartbeat is strong, and your blood pressure has been fine, so hopefully, if you wake up soon, you will be able to come home in a couple of days, and things can start getting back to normal." Nothing, no response, the bleeping of the monitor remained the same, she was still deeply asleep, and he refused to think in terms of coma. "Come on baby, please wake up, I need you. I know that it is hard, and that you are hurt and tired, but I need to know that you are going to be alright, I need you to be around in forty years for me, so please fight the fog, and talk to me."

Owen heard the door click, and turned around to see Meredith enter. "Hi, is it ok if I come in?" she asked. "Sure, I was just giving her a pep talk." responded Owen. Meredith smiled.

"I gave her mine before she went down for surgery. I told her I was going to be the best Aunt ever to your baby, but that to do that she had to come through this surgery, and let me be her person again."

"Can you two please shut up," both Meredith and Owen were startled by the unexpected sound of Cristina's voice. "I'm pregnant, starving, and have a killer headache, so I would appreciate a bit of peace and quite, but for the record, Owen of course I'm going to be around in forty years, because I love you too much to leave you, and Meredith, you can be mine, if you let _me_ be _your person." Cristina closed her eyes again, and left the two most important people in her life staring at each other over her hospital bed. Meredith smiled, and then started to laugh, but was silenced by her person, shushing her. Owen smiled; his girl was going to be just fine if she could find the energy to be snarky while coming out of a post operative haze. He moved Cristina's hand to his lips, so that he could place a kiss on her palm. Owen said three words to her, before allowing the quiet she requested. "Welcome back Hunt."_


	6. Chapter 6 Fresh Start

**I apologise for the delay in postig this chapter. I feel that it is quite slow, but after playing with it for a couple of weeks, think that I may as well post it, and move on to the next chapter.**

**As always, I would like to point out that this is a for fun project, and I do not own any of the characters, or Greys anatomy. Thank you for reading.**

**Fresh Start.**

Owen put his key in the door, and turned the handle, letting himself into the apartment, closely followed by Derek Shepherd. Upon entering, the ladies in their lives, stopped talking, and in perfect synchronisation turned to look towards the door.

"Hello ladies," stated Owen. He noticed that they were both covered by a fleece blanket, that he had encouraged Cristina to nap under, while she was off work sick, and were sharing a tub of phish food ice cream. "Do you have everything you need?" He asked.

"No" responded Cristina flatly.

Not really expecting this response, Owen raised his eyebrows questioningly, but Cristina did not comment further, and it was Meredith who spoke.

"Cristina is grumpy, because someone has hidden her supply of sour patch kids, and as she can't go out to buy any more, she is pissed." explained Meredith. "I did offer to go out for some, but that would have meant that she did not have anything to complain about, and we both know that Cristina Yang likes to have a reason to complain."

"Hunt." said Cristina and Owen in unison, resulting in both Derek and Meredith laughing.

"Well, at least she still wants your name," said Derek, patting Owen on the back, and then walking to the sofa the ladies were sitting on, so that he could kiss his wife. "Mer, I think that we should get home, particularly if there is going to be a domestic over a bag of sweet."

"Aw don't be so cruel, I want to watch, to make sure that oestrogen hasn't made her soft," chuckled Meredith, getting up from underneath the blanket, and putting her spoon on the coffee table.

Owen, dug into his pocket, and pulled out a bag of sweets, which he threw to Cristina. "There you go guys, crisis averted, stay for a drink." said Owen. Cristina nodded, while opening the bag, and greedily pushing her confectionary into her mouth.

"Thanks, perhaps next time, I really need to get home." replied Derek.

Owen collected Meredith's coat for her, and thanked her for keeping Cristina Company, and saw their guests out. Returning to his wife, who had already finished her sweets, he repeated his question of earlier, hopeing for a more favourable response, not that she had had her sugar fix. "Do you have everything you need?" Cristina leaned towards Owen, and pulling him towards her kissed him firmly. "Now I have everything I need." she responded with a smile on her lips.

"How was your head today? Has the pain eased off, and have you had any dizzy spells?" he asked

"Well, I did have one quite sever low blood sugar attack." she responded. Owen immediately looked concerned, "why didn't you ring me." he asked.

"I wanted to, but Meredith said, it was petty and immature to ring you with a fake low blood sugar attack, just because I wanted to know where you had hidden my sweets." she giggled in response. Owen visibly relaxed; she was just trying to torture him, something that she did so well.

"Ok, how about a compromise. I will leave you one bag a day, but you have got to eat proper food when I am not here to keep tabs on you. We are both Doctors, so you know as well as I do, that you blacking out were not caused by a lack of sweets. I need you to promise me that you are going to look after yourself better than you have been doing." During his speech, he had taken hold of her hand, and encased it within his own.

"I promise to do better. When I get back to work, I will try and manage my hours better, rest more, and eat properly, and I plan to start the eating properly bit now, so what do you fancy for dinner?" she asked.

"I could make some meatballs, or steamed Chicken?" said Owen.

"Meatballs sounds excellent." she smiled, one of these days she thought, she would have to learn to cook or her child was going to starve if Daddy was not around. Owen stood up, and moved towards the kitchen.

"Owen." called Cristina. "Yes dear," he responded rolling his eyes.

"Make enough meatballs for three." Owen smiled at her request. "I know the drill Cristina, you are eating for two." he laughed.

"Actually, that is not what I meant; I am going to eat sensibly, which means not overeating too. What I should have said, is that I have invited someone for dinner. Teddy, actually." She watched Owen carefully trying to gage his reaction. Owen took a deep breath, he did want to be friends with Teddy, but her behaviour regarding teaching Cristina, and her reaction about their baby news was not something that Owen felt he was ready to forgive her for yet. He had been grateful when she had text him after Cristina's accident, but he had not taken her up on her offer of comfort, and things between them now were just awkward.

"I wish that you hadn't done that Cristina." was his only response.

Seeing the stirrings of panic in Owens eyes, Cristina immediately jumped up, and stopped dead, feeling her head swim. She stood still for a few seconds before walking to Owens side.

"I needed to do something. I couldn't not do anything, and see you drift further away from your best friend. I've already caused enough trouble between you and Teddy, and I won't be the reason for any further rift." she said sadly.

"You haven't caused any trouble. I should have told her before she came here, that you and I were together, but I did tell her on her first day, and she promised me that she would get over it. Teddy has created her own problem, by not listening to me, and not trusting that I was telling her the truth." Owen sighed again, and ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"If you want me to call her and cancel, I will, but I think that we need to make amends. I still want her to teach me, and I want you to have someone." she said.

"I have you." he replied looking into Cristina's eyes.

"You do, but when I have made you so angry, that you want to walk out on me," Cristina raised her hand to stop him talking, when she could see him start to protest. "It will probably happen, I have a talent for pushing people away, but when you do feel like that, I want you to have someone you can go and drink with, and complain to, and who will remind you, once you have got it all off your chest, that we love each other, and that whatever drama that has gone on will blow over, and that you should come home to me." Cristina finished talking, and waited for Owen to speak.

"Do you think with everything that has happened, that Teddy would tell me to come back to you?" asked Owen.

"I think that she knows how important we are to each other, but even if she didn't, I know that if she told you to leave me that your saviour complex would kick in and you would immediately defend me." Owen laughed at this statement, knowing that she was right.

"And," continued Cristina "The reason I know how you would react, is because it is exactly how I reacted, when Meredith told me that I should not go to you after the chocking. She made up my mind for me, because I didn't know what I wanted to do, but the second she said no to me, I knew without a doubt, that I needed to go to you, and make sure you were alright, and to tell you that I was ok. I don't need Teddy to be my friend, I just need her to be yours." when Cristina looked back at Owen, his eyes were filled with emotion, and he pulled his wife into a tight embrace, before lifting her chin, so that he could kiss her.

"Thank you Cristina." he said simply.

"Anytime," she responded "now are you making meatballs, or am I making a phone call?" she asked.

Owen smiled, "Meatballs of course, you have probably only eaten refined sugar all day."

It was two hours later, when Teddy nervously arrived at the apartment. She had been surprised by Cristina's invitation, and had initially thought that the phone call was work related. Teddy knew what a work junkie Cristina was, and thought that the time off work would have had her one time pupil climbing the walls. When Cristina, had just made small talk before inviting her for dinner, she was so stunned that she could not think on her feet, if she had been able to, she would have thought of a reason why she could not attend, but when she had been asked outright if she had any plans for the evening, she told Cristina honestly that she did not.

Taking a deep breath, Teddy knocked on the door. It was opened by Cristina, who welcomed her, and took her coat. "Owen will be joining us in a couple of minutes, he is just getting changed," Cristina explained his absence. Teddy handed Cristina a bottle of wine, and a box containing some chocolate torte desserts.

"I know that you are not drinking at the moment, so I hope that you are not offended at me bringing wine, but I didn't want to come empty handed." Teddy said apologetically.

"Of course not, it is really kind of you, and I'll let you into a secret. I have no intention of giving up drinking to support my friends when they get pregnant, so I don't expect anyone else to suffer because I can't drink."

Cristina busied herself getting glasses of wine for Teddy and Owen, and her own tonic and lime, and sat down with Teddy.

"So, how is your head, what happened?" asked Teddy.

"McDreamy seems happy enough with my progress. I fainted in a restaurant bathroom, probably because I was a bit anaemic, and had a low blood sugar attack. The bizarre thing was, I felt myself going, and tried to make it to the sink, so that I would have something to hold onto, and that was the problem. I was nearly there when I fainted, and hit my head on the sink, cracked my skull, and ended up with a small brain bleed." She advised Teddy. Teddy looked horrified; she was obviously unaware of the extent of Cristina's injuries.

"Do you know how long you will be off work?" asked Teddy.

"McDreamy said two weeks, but I want to see how I am at the end of this week. The thing is, he has Owen in a panic now, he was so concerned that it may happen again, that I have had to promise not to leave home, and it is driving me crazy." Cristina stopped talking when she heard the bedroom door open, and Owen walked into the living area. His hair was slightly damp from his shower, and she could smell the familiar scent of his cologne, a smell that she loved so much, that she sprayed his pillow when he was on call, so that she could smell him as she slept. Owen nodded towards the glass of wine that was waiting on the table.

"Is this for me?" he asked. Cristina leaned forward, and picking up the glass, handed it to him, saying,

"Of course it is, I know better than to try and get away with drinking." She smirked, and Teddy gave a nervous giggle.

"Hello Teddy," said Owen, "Welcome to our home."

"Hi Owen," Teddy replied self consciously, "Thank s to both of you for the invitation. It is nice not to eat alone, which is what I usually do if I am not at the hospital."

Owen felt guilty when he heard her say this, he had invited her here, and despite the fact that things had not been on a friendly basis for the last two months, before that time, they were at least pretending that everything between them was ok, and despite that pretence, he had not made any arrangements to spend an evening with her since she came to Seattle. The only other social activities that he had shared with her was at Joe's for drinks, which were usually unplanned and involved a group of other people, or at Meredith's house for Christmas, which Derek and Meredith had invited her to without consultation with him. It suddenly struck Owen that he had been avoiding being alone, or in a small group with Teddy, since the day she arrived, the day she told him that she thought she had been invited for more than a job. What Owen needed to work out, was why he was scared being around Teddy. Was it because he was worried that she would try to come between him and Cristina? Or was it because he did not trust himself around her?

Cristina was watching the emotions cross Owens face, and was immediately concerned, had she got it totally wrong, was her attempt to try and get Owen and Teddy talking going to blow up in her face? She swallowed, and attempted to cover the pause in the conversation, by saying "The invite is long overdue, but we have been a bit preoccupied." She illustrated what she was referring to by patting her expanding bump, and Teddy smiled politely in response.

"Teddy," she continued, "I should warn you that I don't cook, so I will be in charge of your drinks this evening, and will keep pouring them until you stop drinking, so don't expect me to be responsible for your alcohol intake. Owen has cooked dinner, one of his specialities, meatballs."

"Are ready to eat?" asked Owen. Cristina nodded enthusiastically, and so he continued, "Then I will check on dinner, and bring it out. Perhaps you two ladies would like to take a seat at the table." he finished before leaving them to go and check the progress of his meal.

Cristina had seated Teddy, and had topped up her wine glass when Owen returned, with a whiskey in one hand, and the serving dish holding their dinner in the other. Cristina, needed a plan, Owen hitting the malt, was not a good sign, and she knew that she would struggle carrying the conversation on her own. Their only commonality was work, and as they had not been interacting with Teddy at work recently, even that topic would be a stretch. Luckily Teddy offered a diversion, when she asked Cristina about the baby as they started to eat.

"So, have you decided how much maternity time you are going to take yet?" Teddy asked Cristina while.

"I am not to sure yet, because of this," she pointed to the dressing she had on her head, "I have already lost 4 weeks off work that I had not factored in, and my blood pressure may make it difficult to do too many extra hours when I get back, so I may have to go back more or less straight away." she finished cautiously. Cristina had not had this conversation with Owen, and she knew that she was a coward for bringing it up in company.

"Everything will be fine Cristina. I can look at your schedule when you do get back to work, and after our baby is born, I will take some time off, so that you can at least catch up on your research and theory work, while I spend time with the baby. I just need you to be sensible, so that you are both well." Owen was directing all his attention to his wife, and appeared oblivious to Teddy's presence, as soon as the conversation had become focussed on his child.

"Owen, if you look at my schedule, I will be lucky to see the inside of an OR until this child is in school." she smiled at Owen, and then turned towards Teddy, hoping to perhaps get some moral support. "What do you think Teddy, do you think that he is going to allow me to do anything like the number of hours I need to, so to make sure I don't fall behind?" Teddy looked a little uncomfortable. She had already implied to Owen that Cristina had got pregnant on purpose, and she had told Cristina that she would not be able to raise a child and be a cardio god at the same time, so what the hell could she say in response to that question? Luckily, like most surgeons, she could think on her feet.

"I think that you are dedicated to your gift, and that you will want to do whatever it takes to finish your residency with the rest of your class. It will be very challenging for you to get the number of OR hours you need, unless you start accruing them now, so that you are ahead of the game when it comes time for you to take maternity leave." Teddy took a sip of her wine, and looked at Owen, trying to gage his reaction to her words. She was well aware that he wanted Cristina to slow down a little; she also knew that she had already undermined Cristina and given her doubts in her own ability, but while she had felt confident in saying openly what she had to Cristina, she was reluctant to expose herself as the bad guy in front of Owen. It should not matter to her what Owen thought of her, after all he had already made it clear that he would only ever be her friend, but for some obscure reason, she still needed him to think well of her.

_Owen was looking at Cristina, making it difficult for Teddy to see what he was thinking, she could not see into his incredibly expressive eyes, so she decided to take another course. "Owen, what do you suggest Cristina do. You are fully aware that she will want to complete her residency with the rest of her year, so perhaps you have some ideas on how she will be able to do that, if she reduces her OR time now?" Teddy asked candidly. Cristina smiled, let him talk his way around that, she thought smugly._

"_Well," started Owen. "I thought that I would talk to Shepherd, and arrange for Cristina to be assigned to the shorter surgeries that come into the hospital, that way she will be able to get her OR hours without having to do any long surgeries, which will make her overtired. Several short surgeries with a break in between would be better for the baby that a couple of long surgeries." Owen stopped talking when he saw the look of horror on Cristina's face. He swallowed nervously before continuing, I don't think that back to back surgeries would be good for you or the baby either."_

"_Owen, you will not talk to Shepherd, and you will not limit me to one hour unchallenging, boring surgeries. I am the best resident in my year, and I will not be reduced to doing the surgeries that nobody else wants, even if it means moving to Seattle Presbyterian to complete my residency, so I am out of your control zone." Cristina's voice had slightly risen as she finished her sentence, and in took her a moment or two to realise that she had company, and did not really want to have this discussion in front of her mentor. She forced a smile onto her face, before continuing. "You have always said to me that you do not play favourites, and since I did not get the benefits of you pulling strings for me before, I don't want the disadvantage of you doing it now. Just think babe, if you had let me scrub in on some of your surgeries, instead of always picking one of the other residents over me, I might have been ahead of the game by now, and would have been able to take it easy for the next few months." Cristina sat back in her chair, and raised her chin almost defiantly._

_Teddy shuffled in her chair uncomfortably; she was a blend of embarrassed and amused. Part of her was fascinated at the better insight she was getting into Owen and Cristina's relationship, and amused that Cristina was not scared to stand up for herself, even using Owens past shortcomings as a boyfriend against him. She did not like the silence, and felt compelled to say something to fill the gap. Owen was looking embarrassed, and did not know what to say, and Cristina looked as though she was ready to kill him if he said a wrong word, which was probably why Owen remained silent._

"_I think that as long as you are sensible, and listen to your body, then I am sure that everything will be fine. I know that when you are in my OR, that I will be guided by what you feel you can cope with, and if a surgery is too long for you to comfortably complete, there are always surgeons available to assist." Teddy stopped addressing Cristina and looked at Owen. "It would be nice if you could just support your wife through this Owen. I know that I have not been the friend that you deserve, and I know that I have not handled things particularly well, but I would like a fresh start. I would appreciate a second chance at being a friend to both of you." Teddy looked for a response. Cristina smiled. Owen had brought her and Meredith back together, and maybe, just maybe she could return the compliment, and she could bring Owen and Teddy back together. Teddy and Cristina were both looking at Owen waiting for his response, and he looked from one to the other, and nodded his head._

"_I would like that; I think that we would both like that." Owen held out his hand, and took Cristina's hand in his, squeezing it tightly, all previous tension forgotten. _

"_We would." added Cristina squeezing Owens hand back, promptly standing to start clearing away dishes._

_Teddy had sighed with relief as the door to Crisitina and Owen's apartment closed behind her are the end of the night. She has survived a potentially excruciating evening, and possibly, even salvaged a minute part of her relationship with Owen, but damn she was going to have to try harder than she had been doing, after all, there was only a finite number of chances that she was going to get, and much though she had settled in at SGMWH she would leave if she thought that was what she needed to do to preserve a friendship with Owen. Perhaps it would be easier to be a better friend from a distance, she could send extravagant baby gifts, and invite them for visits, which they would always decline, probably because of work. Six months, that is what Teddy thought, if I still feel this way in six months, I will hand in my notice and leave Seattle. With this decision made, a happier feeling Teddy made her way home._

_Inside the apartment, Cristina was getting ready for bed, when Owen approached her, and turned her to face him. "What did you mean, when you said that you would go to Seattle Pres, to get away from my control zone?" asked Owen. "What I meant Owen is that you have to trust me to take care of myself and my child. I have every intention of completing my residency on schedule, and would prefer to do it my own way. If I feel at any time that you are manipulating me, or trying to control the level of work I do, by calling in favours from your so called attending friends, I will apply to transfer to Seattle Pres." Cristina advised him calmly. "I just want you to take it easy. It is my baby too, and I want to protect you both." replied Owen._

"_Owen, don't push me on this, you know I don't respond well to being pushed. If I change hospitals, because you refuse to stop acting as though you are still in the army, and I am one of your subordinates, you will be the one that suffers." Owen went to interrupt, but stopped when Cristina held up her hand. "Owen, please let me finish. If I end my residency at another hospital, the baby will come to day care at my place of work, and I think it would be a real shame, that you did not get to see your child in between surgery's because you are at a hospital at the other side of town, from where both me and junior are." Cristina stopped talking; having felt that she had made her point succinctly. She gave Owen a few seconds for what she was saying to sink in, before climbing into bed._

"_Cristina I think we need to talk about this, we both might need to compromise, find a middle ground that we are both comfortable with." Owen followed Cristina and climbed into bed himself._

"_Ok, I promise that I will not do any more than necessary. I will ease off the number of OR hours I strive for, when I have enough logged to qualify this year." stated Cristina._

"_How about, we look at the number of hours you need to log, and divide that by the number of weeks left before you go on leave, so that you are not making yourself too tired." proposed Owen._

"_That's not going to work for me Owen. There is no telling what will happen later on in this pregnancy, so while I am able to I have to do as many hours as I can, within reason."_

_At her within reason comment, Owen raised his eyebrows. What was reasonable to Cristina Hunt, and what was reasonable to the rest of the world were two different things, and he felt this was far too ambiguous for him to agree, and he advised Cristina of this._

"_Let's talk to James," Owen suggested. "We can have weekly appointments, and you could carry on as normal, unless James advises us that there is a medical reason for you to reduce your hours what about that?" Owen counter proposed, he felt as though he would have had more luck trying to negotiate with a terrorist, but knew that he had to try._

_Cristina thought about it. She was strong, she had certainly learnt her lesson regarding the low blood sugar attack she had, and was taking every precaution to prevent a reoccurrence, and deep down she was confident that she could keep healthy through the remaining months of her pregnancy, so this was not a bad compromise. It was a compromise that she felt would get her what she wanted, and so it was with no more than few seconds' hesitation, that Cristina nodded, and said. "I think that that would be a good compromise. It is not about what you want, or what I want, but about the advice of an impartial medical professional who is focussed only on the health of me and the baby. I can live with that."_

_Owen smiled, and leant forward to kiss is wife. "Why is it, that even when you agree to my idea, I still feel as though I have been conned."_

_Cristina laughed. "Stop being paranoid, from tomorrow, it is all about a fresh start. You are going to stop controlling me, you are going to meet Teddy half way, and I am going to consider your concerns. Ok?" she finished._

"_Ok. Get some sleep honey, you need your rest." and with that Owen switched off the bedroom lamp, and snuggled down into bed, pulling Cristina towards him._

_Cristina's last thoughts before falling to sleep were Mummy and Baby 1 - Daddy 0, and she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face._


	7. Chapter 7 The end is in sight

**Apologies for the delay in updating this fan fiction. The final chapter is coming next, and I hope to post it fairly quickly. If I am honest, the C/O storyline has depressed me a bit, and it has taken a bit of effort to get this chapter written, as I am just not feeling it. I hope that this does not come across too much. The drought of Cristina and Owen fan fiction being published at the moment has given me a bit of a push, so lets hope our favourite couple live on to fight again in season seven.**

As usual I would like to remind everyone that I do not own the greys characters, and that I have written this for fun, and not for profit.

**The end is in sight.**

Cristina waited quietly for Owen, in the reception for OBGYN. She had an appointment with James, and Owen, who had been adamant about attending all of her prenatal appointments, was late. Cristina was tempted to go in, and start her appointment without him, but following reassurances from James, that he had time to wait for Owen, she thought better of it. Owen was bound to think that, the clean bill of health she was confident that James would give her, was coerced out of him, if he was not there to see it delivered by James. Cristina checked her watch again. She would give her trauma god husband five minutes to get here, or she would go in to her appointment alone. A short ring, alerted Crisitina to the fact that the lift had stopped, and within seconds, she saw a six foot one inch red headed wall of muscle come hurtling towards her. Wow he looked hot, she thought, a man on a mission. "Hey Cristina, I am so sorry I am late, I was delayed in surgery with the shooting victim." Owen rushed out what he needed to say. "Its fine." replied Cristina, "James is ok for time, so he said he could wait for you to arrive. Is your patient doing ok?" she asked. "No, she flat lined in the OR ten minutes ago, there was too much blood loss, and we just couldn't stop the bleeding. Karev is taking care of her for me." Owen replied softly. He hated losing patients, they all did, but after seeing so much violence in Iraq, Owen particularly hated losing patients to acts of mindless violence. He did not know the reason that a 26 year old women, had been fatally shot in one of the safest places in the country, but he knew it was a waste, and after seeing people fight to stay alive a few more months, the waste of a human life, always tore him apart.

Cristina could see that Owen was upset by the loss of his patient, and in an attempt to distract him, suggested that they see if James was ok to see them both now. Cristina held onto Owens left hand, and stroked the back of it with her free hand in a comforting gesture. "Come on," she said, "Let's go and see how our baby is doing." and with this she guided Owen towards the door to the office of Dr James Evans.

James looked up, when he heard Clare, his nurse; show Cristina and Owen into his office. "Hello Owen, Cristina. How have you been doing?" The latter question was directed at Cristina, although both her, and Owen answered in unison.

"Great, fantastic." said Cristina.

"Okay." was Owens response. James looked a little bemused, and looked from one to the other looking for signs of tension, although to be fair, they were both smiling, and their body language was good so James decided to find out a little bit more. "Wow that is quite a contrast in opinions. Why is that?" James addressed Owen.

"Well, the fainting, and the head injury." explained Owen. James looked slightly alarmed. As Cristina's consultant, he was well aware of the occasion several weeks previously when Cristina had fainted, and hit her head, and he had in fact been called to the OR by Chief Shepherd to monitor the baby, while he dealt with the head injury, but in his last meeting with Shepherd, everything had been fine, and they had both given Cristina the green light to return to work. James looked back at Cristina's records. There should be a note, if she had suffered any further blackouts, or if there had been any complications with the head injury she had sustained, but there was not, and he did not understand why.

"So has there been another fainting spell Cristina? If so you should have come in to see Me." stated James.

"No, no there hasn't, I have been much more careful about eating at regular times, and getting plenty of rest, and I have been absolutely fine. I feel great, radiant even." Cristina was talking to James, but was moving her head back and forth between the two men, making her point to both of them.

"Right, Owen, what are your concerns, while it's good to be vigilant, there are not any indications that the problem will reoccur, surely you realise that. Is there something else I should be aware of?" he asked Owen. Owen took a deep breath, to steady himself.

"James, I am a doctor, I see things go wrong with people every day. My logic tells me that there is no reason, why Cristina will not sail through the last three months of this pregnancy, but I can't be logical about my family and I am scared. I know too much, I know Cristina too well, and I know the demands of residency. All those factors added up means that I can't sleep at night." Owen explained dryly. Cristina swallowed; she was a selfish bitch at times. She knew that she was well. She knew that after the scare she had had, that she was taking really good care of herself, and that all Owen's fussing over her was unnecessary, but she didn't tell him that often enough. When she was in the hospital, with her friends, and he asked what she had eaten, or asked how long she had been on her feet, she would roll her eyes, and make a joke or offer a sarcastic comment, after all she was Cristina Hunt, and has her credibility to maintain. Things were different when they were alone, she let him pamper her, because she felt he needed to do it, and if she was honest, although she would deny it if asked, she kind of likes being pampered and fussed over by Owen. Cristina reached over and took Owens hand in hers, and in response he turned to look at her.

"I am so sorry, I should have realised." said Cristina. "I promised you that I would do better, and I have kept that promise. Shepherd, and James both gave me the all clear to return to work, and I have not come in to the hospital on my days off. I'm eating right, and sleeping really well. If I was not, I probably would have realised that you weren't." Cristina finished. She squeezed Owens hand.

"Guys," James addressed them both. "You both know that there are always risks, and we all know that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, so let's use our medical knowledge to make sure that everything goes smoothly, rather than you torturing yourself with all the things that can go wrong. You should be enjoying this experience, not terrified by it." James smiled encouragingly. "Now, let's get our checks completed."

James weighed, Cristina, took her blood pressure, and checked the baby with an exam. He checked her water sample for abnormalities in the sugar and protein levels, and seemed really pleased with her progress.

"Cristina everything is looking great. Just keep doing what you are doing, and I will see you in two weeks." said James.

"Two weeks, I thought that you said everything was fine, why you need to see me so soon?" asked Cristina.

"Don't worry. You are in your last trimester now, and I will see you every two weeks, for the next eight weeks and then weekly until you deliver this baby. It is standard practice." James explained

"So, I have a clean bill of health?" asked Cristina.

"Absolutely." responded James.

"Excellent," said Cristina, mentally thinking that Daddy was now trailing 0 to 2.

Owen, who had been quite, and had now composed himself, after his emotional outburst, was relieved to hear that everything was as it should be, but also knew that this would mean that Cristina would not let up on her schedule any time soon. He said goodbye to James, and made his way back downstairs with his wife.

Cristina was due back in cardio, and knew that Owen was busy in the pit, but wanted a few minutes with him, so applied some pressure onto his arm, to guide him into an on-call room. Owen waited for her to close the door, before moving in to kiss his wife. Cristina responded immediately. It was not what she had brought him here for, but hell she was only human, and she would defy anyone to prefer a talk rather than being thoroughly kissed by Owen Hunt. Cristina broke the kiss, and gasped for air.

"I know that you are worried about me, but now, I am worried about you." she stated simply.

"You don't need to be. As long as you are the baby stay healthy, I promise I will be just fine." he responded.

"Owen, you need to trust me. It's natural, and sweet for you to worry about us, but I find it a bit offensive, that you think that I don't care about our family as much as you do." Owen looked shocked, he never really thought of it that way, but he knew she was right. He was lost for words. Cristina on the other hand was not, and carried on.

"I know that I am focussed on my work, and I have got to be, while I still can. If I am putting in a bit extra now, it is so that I can take some time off after the baby is born, so that I can bond with her, and at least try and be a good Mum." Cristina paused, almost talking to herself. "It would be nice to prove those who think I can't do it wrong wouldn't it." Cristina looked at Owen, who thought that he should make some sort of response.

"The last thing I care about is what others think. If you want to get a full time nanny, and just do the fun Mum things yourself, that would be fine with me as long as you are both happy and healthy." Owen said gently. He could feel that Cristina was frustrated, and wanted to placate her. He didn't seem to be doing very well.

"Owen you're missing the point." Cristina said, rather exasperated. "You are constantly checking up on me, as if you don't trust me to do the right thing. When I told you I was pregnant, I told you that I wanted this baby, and that I was scared that another eptopic pregnancy would mean we would never get to have a baby together. I didn't take any chances with my child. I got medical advice, I did everything that I was supposed to, and I worried on my own, because I didn't want to raise your hopes until I was more confident that everything was ok. I am a responsible adult Owen, and your lack of faith in me, is infuriating. You have got to back off, and let me get on with running my own life; I was doing that for quite some time before you came along." Cristina's voiced had risen somewhat during the course of her speech, so by the time she finished she was almost shouting, which had Owen on the ropes. He did not want to fight with her, and definitely did not want her angry, that couldn't be good for her blood pressure, but he didn't want to back down either. Cristina was tough, and constantly pushed herself. She knew her own limits, but did she know the baby's? How could she.

Owen walked towards Cristina, and held her at arms length by the shoulders, massaging them in an attempt to ease the tension that he could feel in them.

"I am sorry that you feel slighted by the way I have acted. You are the one who pointed out my saviour complex to me before I even knew I had one, and I haven't changed, it is probably just because I am looking after two of you, you are getting twice as much attention." Owen smiled and pulled Cristina into a loose hug. "I will try not to suffocate you. I just guess I am checking up, because I need reassurance from you that everything is ok. I have seen too much pain, lost too many people who were important to me, and I have never seen myself as a lucky person until now, and I am frightened that it is going to be taken away from me." Owens eyes looked troubled, and it was now Cristina's turn to feel lost for words, so she did what she always did when she could not think what to say. She kissed him.

Five minutes later both Dr Hunts were in there own departments, crisis averted, and both sporting rather swollen lips.

"Owen" said Meredith, who was assigned to the pit along with Alex. "How did your appointment go, did you find out the sex of the baby?" She asked.

"Everything was fine, Cristina has been given a clean bill of health, and we are both still resisting the temptation to find out the sex. Although Cristina constantly refers to the baby as she and her, we want to be surprised." He added.

"Yes but if we knew what you were having, it would give Lexie the opportunity to chose an appropriate theme for the baby shower she is planning for Cristina." explained Meredith.

"No," said Owen. "I didn't hear you say you were planning a shower, because we both know that she will hate that, and when she goes berserk, because the house is full of balloons and stuffed animals, I want to honestly be able to say I knew nothing about it." Owen stated.

"Me too," said Meredith, "why do you think I sowed the seed to Lexie, this way, I get to throw a shower for my best friend without any of the responsibility or blame." Meredith said smugly.

"Well I am sorry to disappoint you, but you will have to come up with a generic theme, because all indications are, that he sex of this baby will not be known for another three months, unless of course Cristina crumbles." Owen delivered the final part of his sentence, as he was walking towards the ambulance bay, Karev having alerted both him and Meredith to an incoming trauma.

Cristina had been on a cardio rotation for the last four weeks, and had seen James for three further appointments, getting the thumbs up on all occasions, and things seems to have fallen into place for her. She was feeling well, and was excited about her forthcoming parenthood. Owen, true to his word was trying hard not to suffocate her, and on the surface he seemed fine, but Owen was a complex person, and what he showed on the surface was only a fraction of what was going on with him.

Owen really looked forward to the days that Cristina was in the pit, and they were working together. He worried less about her, when she was by his side, and he could see that she was ok, and not over doing things. She was stitching up a laceration, on a young daredevil skateboarder's leg, and it reminded him of their first meeting, when he too had a leg injury, that needed her attention. Owen was slightly lost in his thoughts, when he became aware of noise from behind him, probably a patient that felt that they had been waiting too long for medical attention. Owen heard a man calling out Dr Hunt, trying to get his attention. It was not somebody that he recognised, but while trying to place the man, Cristina, shouted, "I am Dr Hunt, and I will be with you in one minute."

Cristina, allocated the finishing off of the sutures to one of her interns, and while removing and disposing of her surgical gloves walked towards the person calling for her.

As Cristina got to the gentleman, he pulled Cristina towards himself, and showed her a knife which he had been concealing. Owen immediately rushed towards Cristina's attacker, but stopped in his tracks, when the attacker shouted, "One step nearer, and I will cut her throat."

"What do you want?" asked Owen.

"Revenge." the attacker replied simply. "Dr Hunt here apparently did everything possible, but it wasn't enough," shouted the attacker. "She let her die; she let my lovely girl die."

"Who are you?" asked Owen. "Who is the patient you are talking about? I am the head of trauma here, and this is my team. If something went wrong, I am responsible, so why don't you let her go, and come and talk to me." Cristina who had been quiet, suddenly drained of all colour, at the thought of Owen taking on a madman, but she did not need to worry, because the attacker laughed. "No way red, Dr Hunt here killed my wife, with her inaction, and I am going to kill her." and with that the blade he was carrying was swiftly brought across Cristina's throat, and her jugular vein was severed. Owen flew at the assailant, and punched him hard, knocking him to the floor, unconscious, before trying to stop the flow of blood from his wife's throat.

Owen woke up in a cold sweat, and taking note of his surroundings closed his eyes and started counting backwards in an attempt to stabilise his breathing. It had been so vivid; he had been through this before, although it was usually friends that he had lost in Iraq that he had nightmares about. Owen realised that the room was not silent, which is what you expect when you wake up in the middle of the night He could hear a whimpering noise, and when he turned his head to look at Cristina, she was staring at him with a look of terror in her eyes, and blood oozing from a split lip which she was trying to stop from dripping onto the bed linen.

Owen immediately jumped out of bed, and ran to the bathroom, where he wet a facecloth with cold water, which he brought back to Cristina, to attend to her mouth.

"I am so sorry." said Owen. "I did this to you didn't I." he stated, already knowing the answer.

"It is fine, it was my fault, I could see you were having a nightmare, and thought that if I could comfort you you would settle. I should have known not to try and restrain you while you were in the middle of a bad dream." responded Cristina.

"Please don't apologise to me, you have nothing to apologise for. I hurt you, again, and you are saying you're sorry. I hate myself right now. Owen looked down, unable to keep eye contact any longer, he was ashamed, and he was scared, because although Cristina had forgiven him after the choking, she had been honest enough to tell him that she was afraid to fall asleep next to him, and with the baby to consider she had every reason to react the same now. Owen took deep gulping breaths, he had talked himself into thinking that she would break up with just like the last time a night terror had resulted in her being injured. On the verge of a panic attack, Owen started to sob.

Cristina dropped the wet wash cloth that she had been holding to her mouth, in an attempt to prevent any swelling, and absorb the small amount of blood that was still seeping from her lip. Uncaring of the dampness, and blood staining that was lying on her pale green bedding, Cristina immediately put both arms around Owen, in more of a restraining hold than a hug. She could see the signs, the agitation, the gasping breaths that he was taking, and in the same way that she had calmed Dr Dixon over a year before, she held onto Owen, suppressing his nervous system, and talked soothingly to him., until his breathing started to regulate, and gradually, Owens panic attack subsided, and he turned, to return his wife's hug, telling her over and over again that he was sorry.

"Come on Owen," whispered Cristina, "It is still early, try and get some more sleep, come and get in bed."

Owen stood up, and from his place next to Cristina, removed the damp wash cloth, and returned to his side of the bed, climbing under the covers. "I know that I won't sleep now," answered Owen, "But if it is alright, I will stay here and hold you until you go back to sleep." offered Owen.

"I'd like that." said Cristina shuffling towards him, and placing her head on his chest, and closing her eyes.

Owen lay in bed, rubbing his sleeping wife's arm, and worrying about when he was ever going to get

better, or if he was always going to be a threat to the safety of his wife and baby.

Cristina was glad that the first part of her day was being spent doing an early surgery, as her surgical mask covered the evidence of the previous nights events. It was not until almost lunch time, that Cristina had to face her fellow residents sporting a fat lip.

Cristina made her way from the lunch line, to their usual table, and placed her tray next to Meredith's. She was thinking about telling a lie, and saying she had left a door open, but she knew that Meredith could always see through her lies, and decided against it. "What the hell happened to your mouth?" gasped Meredith. "Oh," stalled Cristina, I forgot about that, it looks a bit of a mess doesn't t?" she stammered.

"Yes it does, now tell me what happened." reiterated Meredith.

"Well Owen was having a bad dream, and I foolishly tried to restrain him." explained Cristina.

"He hurt you? Again? Cristina this has got to stop, don't you realise what danger you are putting yourself in." said Meredith firmly.

"It was an accident, it hardly even hurts" argued Cristina.

"I don't care if it was an accident or how sorry he is, I've seen it before remember, and you can't keep on going back for more. Are you waiting for him to seriously hurt you, or kill you even." said an increasingly upset Meredith. "Cristina, you are my person, and I know that you love Owen, but I would not be doing my job if I did not remind you, that you are putting more than yourself at risk. You have a baby to think about for god sake, you need to be a responsible adult. Be strong, and change something. If you don't change something, this will keep happening, and you cannot go on like this." Meredith added.

Cristina had no words. She was livid. How dare Meredith say that she was being irresponsible by staying with Owen? How dare she imply that Owen was some sort of bomb waiting to go off, or that she was being frivolous about the safety of herself and her child. Even more upsetting from Cristina's point of view was that Meredith had said she was weak, by telling her that she needed to be strong. She took a deep breath, before responding, and said "Meredith, I have told you before, that I need there to be an Owen and Me. That will not change ever." and with that Cristina took her untouched lunch tray and walked away.

Meredith did not follow; she figured that she needed some time on her own. She would talk to her again later, but not before she had spoken to Owen Hunt. She did not have to wait long, because 20 minutes later as she was walking out of the place with the food, she virtually collided with Owen.

"Owen, Hi." said Meredith. "I am glad I have seen you, I was hoping that I could talk to you in private. Do you have a few minutes?" asked Meredith.

"Hi, yes I do, do you want to come to my office?" Owen asked.

Meredith merely nodded, and quickly preceded Owen down towards his office. Once inside, Owen closed the door and was about to ask Meredith what was on her mind, when Meredith held up her hand silencing him.

"Owen, this is really difficult for me, so I was hoping you would give me a couple of minutes without interruption." Owen closed his mouth, keen to let this twisted sister have her say.

"I think that you should leave Cristina. I know you love her, but I think that you are dangerous for her, and after what happened last time, I know that even though she knows that she has to keep herself safe, that she will not leave you. Please if you care about her at all, you will leave, and make sure that Cristina and your child are out of harms way." Meredith who had been looking at the floor, moved her eyes up, to meet Owens, he was angry she could tell, but there was also something else in those expressive blue eyes, sadness and resignation.

"Has Cristina said something to you?" asked Owen.

"She told me how she got a fat lip, and made more excuses about how you were not awake, and that it was an accident and you were sorry! But Owen this isn't about you being sorry, it's about you not being in control, it is about my best friend, your wife, being at risk with you. She loves you Owen, she would die for you, but do you really want her to. If you love her at all, you would leave her before she really gets hurt." finished Meredith.

Owen knew what she was saying was true, Cristina would die for him, he would die for her, but either move would result in them not being together, and he wanted that more than anything didn't he? No, Owen thought, what I want more than anything is for my wife and child to be safe and well, and Meredith was right, he was a risk to that safety.

"Meredith, I love Cristina with all my heart, and it would break me to be apart from her, but I understand what you are telling me, and I promise you that I will talk to Cristina." Owen walked to his office door and opened it, letting Meredith know that the conversation was over. As Meredith left his office, Owen, lunch long forgotten, returned to his chair, and sat with his head in his hands.

Cristina, good to her word, was not putting in any extra shifts at the hospital, and as Owen was stuck in surgery, she went home alone.

After changing into some sweat pants, and a baggy t shirt, she went about stripping and remaking the bed, and placed the bedding in the washing machine. All evidence of last nights events were now gone. The blood stained bedding and facecloth gone, the side table straightened, so that the items knocked over as Owen had thrashed about the previous night, were back in there correct place, and everything looked neat and tidy. She smiled, the bed was the one thing that she always managed to keep straight, the kitchen was another matter, and very much Owens domain, but as she had some time to kill, she decided to look in the freezer to see what they could have for dinner.

Cristina had found one of Owens frozen lasagne's, and had both defrosted it, and had placed it in the oven to slowly reheat, when Owen came in over an our later. He greeted Cristina briefly on the way in, and told her that he was taking a shower. Cristina, who was busy checking the food, merely shouted her acknowledgment, from her crouched position in front of the oven, no mean feat for a woman well over seven months pregnant.

Owen quickly showered, and pulled some clean clothes out of his wardrobe, and then, spotting his overnight bag on the shelf, pulled it out, and started filling it quickly and efficiently. This was going to be crazy. Cristina was the love of his life, they were about to become a real family, and here he was, acting on Meredith's request to leave his wife, but he knew on a basic level, that Meredith was at least partly right. As far as being a couple went, the end was in sight, soon there would be three of them, and their decisions would affect another person. His shrink had told him over and over again, that he had to focus on himself, that he could only get better for himself, not for others, but he knew that Cristina was his reason for wanting to get well, and that not being together, even some of the time, was all the incentive he needed to sort himself out. He hated to admit that Dr Wyatt was right, but he had become lost in her, in them, and he had thought that he had everything he needed, until the fear of something happening to her triggered him, and he realised that he did not.

Cristina, still in the kitchen, was plating up the lasagne, and deciding that Owen had taken far too long already, walked into their bedroom, to hurry him along. Welcomed with the sight of her husband packing, Cristina stopped dead still, and stared at Owen, who had also stopped what he was doing and was looking intently at her.

Cristina was the first to recover, and said "Owen, why are you packing?"


	8. Chapter 8 Making new memories

Thank you for reading and for your reviews.

This fiction was written for fun, not for profit, and all characters are owned by ABC, and Shondra Rhimes.

**Final Chapter - Making new memories**.

"Owen, I asked you a question, why the hell are you packing that bag?" Cristina repeated her earlier question, firmly, but quietly.

"I err, I think that it would be better if I didn't stay here tonight." replied Owen.

"That is a lot of stuff for one night, why are you taking so much stuff, and why do you think it would be better for you to stay somewhere other than your own home with you wife?" she responded quietly. She already knew the answer, but was not going to make it easy for the love of her life to walk out on her.

"Cristina you know why. I hurt you again last night. I'm triggered, and it is not safe for you to be around me." Owen replied.

"Are you a risk to me while we are talking? No of course not, so put the bag down, come and eat dinner, and talk to me." with this, Cristina turned and went back into the kitchen where she collected their plates. Owen followed, as she knew he would, and sat down at the table.

"I hear what you are telling me, but why make this decision without consulting me?" asked Cristina.

"Because I know that you will say that you know your limits, and that you want to help me through this, and that is wonderful of you, but I can't take any more chances with your safety. I need to do this, because I know that you will not make me." answered Owen sadly.

"I won't make you because it is not what I want. I tried not being with you remember, and I can't do that again." said Cristina. Owen looked at her intensely but remained silent.

"How long were you planning on leaving for?" said Cristina.

Owen left the table, and went to Cristina's side, crouching down, and looking up into her eyes. "Cristina, I am not leaving you. I am talking about sleeping in a hotel, until it is safe for me to be asleep around you and the baby." he grasped her hands which were shaking in her lap.

"I am sorry Owen, but that just does not work for me." Cristina stated calmly. "I need you here with me. I need you to rub my back at night when it aches and I can't get comfortable. I need you to get me ginger ale when I feel sick, and to haul me out of the bath and bed, when I am feeling like a beached whale, and can't stand up by myself. I can't do this without you." she finished sadly.

"I don't want you to do this on your own. I want to be here with you, this isn't about me not caring enough, this is about me wanting to keep you safe. I love you, remember that." affirmed Owen.

Owen stood up; if he was going to do this he needed to do it now, before his resolve weakened. He left his untouched meal, and swiftly walked back towards the bedroom where he collected his bag. Cristina momentarily stunned by what was going on, sprang into action. There was no way in hell that this man was leaving the house.

Cristina rushed to the door, reaching it well before Owen. She stood with her back flat against the door, and as Owen moved towards the door, he shook his head.

"Please don't do this Cristina, I promise I will back before you wake up. It will be just like I am on call, and sleeping at the hospital. I will come here after work tomorrow, and we will spend the evening together, and I will leave again when you fall asleep." reasoned Owen.

"No, don't you do this." said a now crying Cristina. "Don't you dare leave me at nearly eight months pregnant, to go and stay in a hotel. If you are at the hospital you are five minutes away if I need you, and you ring me to check on me. Having to be away at night when you are on call is different from you choosing to leave me alone, upset, agitated and really scared, so don't do it Owen don't abandon me." sobbed Cristina. "I am fine the baby is fine, but we won't be if you leave."

Owen moved towards Cristina, and dropping his bag on the floor, moved towards Cristina to hold her.

"I am not abandoning you. I want to do this now, so that I can get myself well. I promise you that it won't be for long. I am going to go to the VA, and I have already booked in extra sessions to see Dr Wyatt. I just need to get my head sorted out, so that we can be together, without you being at risk." said Owen, rubbing his wife's back, trying to calm her.

Cristina calming a little, realised, that Owen was not going to be talked out of his plan of action easily, and decided that it was time to take a different tack.

"Owen, what if I black out and hit my head again, and I am here on my own, I could bleed to death before you come home in the morning. Perhaps a burglar will get into the house, or a fire could break out, that would be dangerous. I don't want to be alone; I am more scared of things could happen while I'm alone than I am of another bad dream. If it makes you feel better, I could always handcuff you to the bed." she tried to smile through her tears, and she looked up at Owen, immediately seeing the realisation in his eyes. He knew that she was right, and that there were a hundred things that could happen to her, with or without him being their, and that it was only if he had another night terror, that Cristina was not protected by him.

"Ok." said Owen "I won't go, but I will sleep in a different room."

Cristina looked up, relieved, and started to take calming breaths. "That's better, now go and unpack that ridiculous bag, while I reheat our reheated lasagne."

Owen smiled at her, and sensing her trying to lighten the mood pulled her towards him for a searing kiss. Cristina, opened her mouth, to allow his tongue entry, and enjoyed the feeling of being in her husbands arms, being once again thoroughly kissed. Cristina, held onto Owen, when the kiss was finished, and while nuzzling his neck, whispered into his ear "I love you Owen, you are it for me, and I will always be better off with you than I will be without you. Remember that always, and we will be OK."

Owen responded by saying "I'm sorry. Dr Wyatt told me that the old memories will fade, as I start making new memories, things that are more significant to me than what happened in Iraq. I guess I need to start focussing on that." Cristina hugged him close and confident that she now had the outcome that she wanted said "Come on lets eat. By the way, there is no way that you are sleeping anywhere other than in our bed, next to me and that is final. In no time at all we will have our baby crying all night, and you will want to sleep in the guest room for some peace, and that will be the only time that I will allow you to do that." Cristina reasoned.

"Well we have a little time before that happens. Anyway it is more likely that you will be the one sneaking off into another room for peace and quiet." said Owen with a rye smile.

"She will be here before we know it Owen, and we need to start thinking about some names." confirmed a serious Cristina pulling her husband behind her back towards the kitchen.

Why does my life have to be so complicated thought Cristina, why couldn't she have an uncomplicated relationship with an uncomplicated man? Why did she have to fall in love with a damaged man, and get pregnant way before either of them were ready, and it was with these thoughts rushing through her mind, that Cristina Hunt pushed the uneaten lasagne back into the oven.

The morning after Owens failed attempt to leave Cristina alone, he woke up, next to his wife, refreshed, and relieved that he had had six hours uneventful sleep. Cristina was curled up, snoring gently, and he gently nudged her awake. "Come on sleeping beauty, we are both on shift in one hour, go and have your shower, while I fix breakfast."

Cristina, opened her eyes lazily, it was certainly a bonus being married to a man that was useful around the kitchen, she thought, particularly when she was so useless, and had no intention of ever being anything else. She smiled at Owen, before reaching up for a small kiss before climbing out of bed. "Breakfast sounds good, I am starving." and with that she was gone.

Cristina was in the residents lounge an hour later, when Meredith came in. She had come into work well before her own shift, because she knew that Cristina was in early, and following her conversation with Owen yesterday, she was expecting her person to be upset, and needing her.

"Are you Ok Cristina?" asked Meredith tentatively.

"Yeh, fine. Fat and gassy, but other than that I'm fine thanks." replied Cristina, tying her shoe laces.

"What about Owen, is he OK?" asked Meredith.

"He is so whipped. He had a wobble last night, and wanted to stay in a hotel, because of my lip, but I won him round, and we had amazing sex. In fact, if someone had told me that they still wanted to have sex, at nearly eight months pregnant, I would not have believed them, but hell, with my raging hormones, I just can't get enough of him. Besides, after him dropping the leaving bombshell, the boy had some making up to do, so I took full advantage." Cristina was smiling while she was talking to Meredith. It was clear that she felt she had won a prize, but Meredith was too busy trying to hide her anger to do anything other than nod dumbly.

"Well I guess I will see you later." Meredith said simply, before rushing out of the locker room in search of Owen. Meredith didn't have to look too hard. Owen was charting in his office, when Meredith stormed in.

"You promised me that you would not put her in harms way, and then spend the night having sex. That is the opposite of leaving Owen." she accused.

"Meredith, it wasn't what she wanted, I packed, I told her I would sleep in a hotel, until I stopped being triggered, but she got upset, and pointed out the dangers of her being left alone. So we decided it was better if I was still there." Owen tried to explain, but Meredith was not to be negotiated with.

"No excuses Owen, she is my best friend, and I have tried to like you for her sake, but from now on, the trying stops. I will be there for Cristina and my niece or nephew, but you and I are finished, and I stop pretending to like you from now on." Meredith raged. "And if anything happens to her, I will kill you." with that, Meredith slammed out of his office, and left a dumbstruck Owen reeling from her speech.

Oh my god, thought Owen, here I am again causing a problem for Cristina. He was angry, with himself for not being strong enough to leave, and with Meredith for thinking that it was her business. He did not have to explain himself to Meredith Grey, he didn't care who she was married to. Owen left his office, and went to try and find his wife before she started rounds.

Cristina was collecting charts at the nurses' station, when Owen caught up with her. "Hey, can I talk to you for a couple of minutes in private." he asked. "Sure." answered Cristina following him into a nearby supply closet.

"I don't want to become a thing between you and Meredith again." said Owen.

"Why should you be? Has something happened?" she replied.

"Meredith is really pissed with me because of what I did to you, and she said things that leads me to believe, that I will not be being invited to dinner anytime soon." he sighed.

"Well then neither of us will be going to dinner, we come as a set." Cristina tried to make him smile.

"That's the whole point Cristina, I know that you need your friend, so from now on, when you want to do stuff with Meredith, you just let me know and I will get out of the way. In addition to that, I don't want you to get in any arguments with Meredith, by defending me, so if she is giving me a hard time, please just ignore it. Ok?" he added.

"No it's not Ok. What do you mean giving you a hard time, what does she want from us now." said an exasperated Cristina.

"Look Cris, Meredith is still worried about you, and I sort of agree with her concerns. I haven't got it together yet, and until I have there are not any guarantees that I will not have more night terrors. She thinks that it is my job to do whatever I have to do to make sure you are not ever put at risk, but the only way I can make sure is to not be with you, and I just don't think that I have the strength to do that." Owen told her.

"Owen, if Meredith tries to come between us, as far as I am concerned it is friendship terminated. When I was dealing with all of her McDreamy crap, everything was hunky dory, but when I need something, she suggests we break up." Cristina suddenly started laughing. "Actually when I was forced to listen to her McDreamy crap, that it exactly what I told her - break up with him Mer. He made you into a dirty mistress, and then left you to go back to his cheating wife." Cristina carried on laughing, and Owen eventually joined in seeing the funny side of what she was saying.

"Right then." said Owen. "It's agreed, your relationship with Meredith, with be separate from your relationship with me, and I will keep out of her way wherever possible."

"Whatever makes you happy honey," smiled Cristina. "Just make sure that the only overnight bag you pack is the one I will need for the hospital." Cristina moved forward to give her husband a quick kiss and went back to her work.

Cristina did not see Meredith until lunch time again, and in order to comply with Owens wishes, she resisted the temptation to tell Meredith to butt out of her relationship with Owen, and gave her person a smile.

"You seem happy." said Meredith.

"Yes, I am. My surgery went well, my gas has subsided, and my husband is a sex god, why wouldn't I be?" she responded.

"Well since you are in such a bright and shiny mood, it might be a good time to tell you that we are holding a baby shower for you at my place tomorrow night." Meredith rushed the final part of the sentence, and then looked down, waiting for the storm to erupt.

"Like hell you are. I do not coo over onsies, and I do not go to baby showers, not even my own." insisted Cristina.

"Come on Cristina, people want the chance to celebrate the baby. If you cant do it for you, do it for Owen, you know how popular he is with the staff here, and although you are not the favourite resident with most of the staff, baby Hunt is still going to be the most popular child in day care. Do it for Owen." Meredith used her trump card. Owen was popular with everyone, and although Cristina's abrasive ways would always make her unpopular with the interns and nurses, her talent ensured that she was grudgingly respected, that coupled with the fact that her husband had almost hero worship status within the halls of SGMW hospital meant that there was a really nice buzz around the hospital about the forthcoming new arrival. Cristina chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. She was now in the middle of a dilemma. She knew that Owen would be disappointed in her if she refused to allow their friends to celebrate the baby, but it really was not her thing, she was a surgeon, and that is how she wanted to be seen, she was not going to be mommy tracked by anyone. "Ok, said Cristina, but there is two hour time limit, and nobody gets to drink. If I can't get drunk then nobody else does." Cristina agreed reluctantly.

"Great, be there for seven. Don't worry it will be fine." said Meredith, pleased with herself for having achieved the impossible.

When Cristina got home that evening, she noticed that her overnight holdall was in the hall, and she curiously unzipped the top, just to see what was inside. She smiled when she saw that her night things were inside, along with a wash bag, and some baby essentials. She zipped the bag up again, and went into the lounge, where Owen, was lying on the couch listening to music. As soon as Owen realised that Cristina was in the lounge, he immediately sat up, and turned off the music.

"Hi. Did you notice I packed your hospital bag?" asked Owen.

"I did. What made you decide to do that, we still have a few weeks yet." she said.

"I know but with you mentioning it today, I thought that we should not leave it to the last minute." Owen smiled, and moved, so that Cristina could sit with her feet on Owens lap, waiting for a foot massage.

"Have you though any more about names?" continued Owen.

"I keep coming back to Amelia for a girl." mused Cristina, "I know that it is not one of your favorites, but it is the one name that makes my heart flutter when I say it, and think of it belonging to my baby."

"Well I can't argue with your heart flutters," Owen smiled and stretching forward to pop a kiss on Cristina's head, "after all it fluttered for me, and I will only ever think of that as the best thing that has happened to me."

"Amelia it is then." murmured Cristina.

"What about a boy's name," asked Owen?

"I have no idea, why don't you pick one." Cristina responded with a rye smile. Owen shook his head. She was so confident that the child she was carrying was a girl, that in true Cristina style, she would not invest the time picking out a boys name.

"Ok, I will think about it."

Cristina and Owen spend the rest of the evening quietly. She told him about being coerced into attending a baby shower, but that she had managed to negotiate a short time slot for said shower. He declined the offer to attend, knowing that he could not be around Meredith, without Cristina picking up the hostility that she directed at Owen, and during the time when she needed her person, Owen didn't want to get in the way, or cause any disharmony. Owen did however agree to drive her to Meredith's for the party, and collect her afterwards as she had long since been banned from riding her motorbike, and her car, a small two door model, was becoming increasingly difficult for her to get in and out of. Owen had suggested several times that they trade it for a more practical model, but she was convinced that once the baby arrived, it would meet her needs. Owen was not convinced, but knew she would eventually reached the correct conclusion, so as the Hunts climbed into bed that night, they had agreed a name for a daughter, packed the hospital bag, and made arrangements for her baby shower transportation, all in all it had been a good day.

The day of the baby shower was an uneventful one, it was quiet in the hospital, and Cristina was so bored that she was actually glad to be finished work on time, and was getting ready for the baby shower. Cristina was waiting out at the front of the hospital when Owen pulled up in the car. He hopped out, going to the passenger side to open the door and assist Cristina inside. Cristina has long since stopped making fun at this chivalrous gesture, and now just accepted it, and waited for him to open doors for her.

"How was your day?" asked Owen

"It sucked. I haven't seen the inside of an OR all day, and there wasn't even anything to sign in on and watch from the gallery. I have just been charting, and doing post ops all day." she complained.

"It's been slow in the pit too. I can say that now I am off duty." Owen smiled in response.

As they pulled up outside Meredith's, Owen asked, "So what time do you want to come and collect you?" "Ten should be fine, that factors in a slight over run and still leaves me time to make a token effort with the cleaning up." Cristina smiled "bye." she said as she leaned over to give him a quick kiss, but Owen pulled her closer.

"Hey not so fast, I have hardly seen you all day." he said moving towards her, to claim a more substantial kiss. They had been somewhat making out for a couple of minutes, when the sound of a car horn brought them back to reality. "Crap. Bailey." said Cristina, looking into the rear view mirror, to see who had been honking their horn.

Owen smiled "I know how she feels about public displays of affection, but you are not a resident secretly screwing the attending anymore. You're my wife, and I am damn well entitled to kiss you if I want to." he said dropping an extra kiss on her lips to prove his point. Owen got out of the car, waving to Bailey, and helped his wife out of the car.

"Take care now," whispered Cristina quietly, against Owens ear. "I love you too." he whispered back, before climbing back into the truck. From the porch, Meredith was glaring, having watched their mini make out session, and intimate goodbye, and as Owen manoeuvred the truck to turn round, and he caught sight of the icy glare, which was being directed at him. This was going to be a lot tougher than he had hoped.

Cristina waved goodbye to Owen, and waited for Bailey to get out of her car, before turning towards the house, and walking to meet Meredith.

Cristina stifled a scream when she walked into Meredith's lounge, which had been transformed into something that Cristina would no doubt have nightmares about. There was a huge banner saying Welcome Baby Hunt, in pastel shades, and balloons in bunches floating from parcels which were stacked around the room. Despite Cristina's no alcohol rule, Lexie was already at least half drunk, having arrived early to decorate, and Bailey was already tucking into a glass of wine, Callie, Arizona, April, Gracella, and Teddy were already present. Meagan was running late, waiting for the baby sitter, but once the guest of honour had arrived, Meredith decided it was time for the shower to begin.

"Open ours first," squealed Arizona

"Ok, but less shouting, my child can hear in the womb you know and I don't want her scared of you before she arrives." answered Cristina while opening a huge box, which contained a swinging crib. Cristina was genuinely touched. Callie and she had become friends since they had been flat mates, and the extravagant gift was very welcome. Meredith had bought her the nursing rocker to match the crib, both of which would look lovely in the baby's room. Bailey, ever practical, had bought her a sterilising kit, and from there on in, the gifts were onesies and cuddly toys.

Once the presents had been opened, Lexie launched into a game of baby charades, where all the books, films and plays were baby related, "god this was boring, painfully boring." thought Cristina, wriggling in her seat. "I wonder what Owen is doing." she mused.

Owen was also bored. He was collecting Cristina in an hour and he would not drink at all if he needed to drive, so he couldn't go to Joe's. Owen made a decision to go for a run, it would kill some time, so he pulled on his running gear, and left the house, jogging downstairs, heading for his long run route, that would kill the boredom, and it would hopefully ensure a peaceful nights sleep too.

Cristina was still trying to workout Teddy's feeble attempt at charades. Her team sucked, and they were trailing 4 - 1. She stretched trying to work the knot in the small of her back, when she felt a pop, followed by the gush of warm fluid between her legs. "Shit." yelled Cristina, immediately silencing the noisy gathering. "My water just broke."

Meagan, who was seated next to Cristina, immediately jumped up, not wanting to get covered in amniotic fluid, and said "Isn't it early, I thought that you still had 3 weeks to go?"

"Five weeks Meagan, I have five goddamn weeks to go, now will somebody pass me my phone so that I can ring my husband." Cristina clarified. Lexie, despite being the most drunk, was the first to respond, finding Cristina's bag, and quickly passing her her mobile phone. Cristina hit the speed dial, first of all for Owen's cell phone, and when he didn't pick up, their home number. As neither call was answered, she left a message on the answer phone at home.

"Owen it's me. I don't want you to panic, but my water just broke. I am going to call an ambulance because you are not at home to pick me up, and everyone here except for me has been drinking. Meredith is coming with me, and I will keep trying your cell. Please can you bring my bag, and meet me at the hospital. Please hurry." Cristina disconnected the line.

Cristina looked at Meredith. "Are you going to be ok to come with me, I mean you are not going to puke tequila all over the delivery room are you?" Cristina asked. "I'll be fine, lets call that ambulance shall we?" responded Meredith.

Bailey added "I've already called for one, they have given an ETA of 20 minutes, and I have asked them to call Dr Evans. He will ring you within the next 10 minutes."

"Thanks," whispered Cristina, as the first contraction ripped through her. Cristina looked at her watch 21:05, ok let's see what time the next one is, she thought

Owen had done a seven mile run, taking him just over forty minutes; this gave him ten minutes to shower and change before collecting Cristina. We let himself into the house, and collected a bottle of water from the refrigerator en route to the shower. He quickly stripped off his running gear, and jumped under the luke warm jet of water, quickly shampooing his short red hair, and generously lathering his body with his favourite shower gel. All together he was out of the shower in five minutes, and was quickly dressed in clean jeans and t shirt. At 21:55, Owen collected his jacket, quickly patting the top pocket to check his phone and pager were inside, and walked towards the door colleting the keys to his truck on the way out. Passing through the hall, Owen noticed the blinking light on the answering machine, and quickly pressed the play button. He smiled as he heard the start of the message, initially thinking that Cristina was trying to get away from the shower early, but the smile was soon wiped from his face. Stunned Owen listened to Cristina's voice. "Owen it's me. I don't want you to panic, but my water just broke. I am going to call an ambulance because you are not at home to pick me up, and everyone here except for me has been drinking. Meredith is coming with me, and I will keep trying your cell. Please can you bring my bag, and meet me at the hospital. Please hurry." Owen grabbed the bag, and dashed to the car.

Cristina was being made comfortable in the hospital. She had one further contraction at Meredith's house prior to the arrival of the ambulance, and had had two since her arrival at SGMW, making them about 14 minutes apart. James had arrived, and had put the baby on a monitor, to check for any foetal distress.

"Well Cristina," said Dr James Evans "It looks like this is it, as your waters have broken, and you are at risk of infection, stopping your labour is not an option. At thirty five weeks, your baby should be absolutely fine, maybe just a little bit small, but we will have peds on standby just in case." he finished.

Cristina was now a little bit edgy. Her baby may need peds, and the greatest Dr in Peds was drunk at Meredith's, following her sucky baby shower. She squeezed Meredith's hand instinctively as she was hit by another contraction. The baby's heart beat audible on the monitor next to her bed, started to rapidly increase, before returning to normal as the contraction subsided, and this is what was happening when a breathless, excited and anxious Owen was shown into Cristina's room.

"Owen," Cristina called relief obvious in her voice. "I was worried about you, where have you been." Owen initially ignored the question, and immediately took Cristina's hand, bending to kiss her on the forehead. "I went for a run, I only just picked up the message that you left." he explained apologetically. He raised his head in response to the disgusted, huh, sound being made by Meredith.

"Seriously! You seriously went running without your cell when your wife is about to give birth any minute. Seriously." finished Meredith.

"Meredith, thank you for staying with Cristina," Owen ignored the attack he had just heard "but I think I can take it from here."

"Says the man, who was out running while his wife was giving birth." she responded insultingly.

"Meredith, I would like to make myself very clear. I was out for a run, while my wife was at a party. Our baby was not due for another five weeks, so I did not feel that I was being negligent for not having my phone with me for forty minutes. I am here now, probably hours before the baby will be, and Cristina is fine, so if you would like to go home, I will call you when the baby arrives." Owens tone was quiet and firm. There was no invitation for debate, and when Meredith did open her mouth to protest Owen said. "I will throw you out if I have to. The birth of our first child is not an experience I intend sharing with anyone other than Cristina and James, I don't care how close you are to my wife, now please leave, before I decide to call every other member of staff with news of my child before I call you.

"Cristina, do you want me to stay?" asked Meredith.

"Mer I'm fine, so please don't look at me like that, we both know McDreamy won't want me at the delivery of any of your perfect haired children any more than Owen wants you, so please let me do this, and I will call you." Cristina smiled. She didn't want her person upset with her.

"Ok" said Meredith grudgingly, casting Owen a death glare, as she vacated the room.

"That was intense." said Cristina just before another contraction hit her, and her face crumpled with pain.

"Ok, let's do our breathing." said Owen immediately falling into his role as birthing coach.

It had been a long night, and it was nine hours later, at about seven am when Cristina, desperate for a distraction asked Owen if he had come up with a boy's name. "I am thinking of Horatio" said Owen tongue in cheek.

"Oh that would roll off the tongue, Horatio Hunt." responded Cristina

"I am only joking, I have got a couple of ideas, but I will wait and see if I need to make a final decision in a few hours." he smiled and dabbed Cristina's clammy brow.

"You won't need to make a decision, it's an Amelia, I am sure of it." Cristina smiled back at him.

"Cristina you are ten centimetres dilated, and we are ready for you to push with your next contraction." advised James, and from there on things moved quite rapidly, and after only one hour of pushing, Cristina heard her baby cry for the first time, and could hear James saying "Congratulations Owen and Cristina you have a lovely baby boy." Cristina looked up at Owen, who was wiping the tears from his face with the back of his hand. She reached up a hand and touched his arm, immediately bringing his attention back to her. He drank her in. She looked exhausted, but happy. She was smiling, grinning really ear to ear. "We did it Cristina, we are a family," said Owen, with emotion in his voice.

"You have been my family since the day I met you, but we are a Mommy and Daddy now," she responded, taking her baby from James and holding him close to her.

"There you go Cristina, its all over with, you can just enjoy him now." said James. Cristina smiled in response to his words, and addressing her son said, "It isn't all over is it you beautiful nameless baby, it is only the beginning."

Owen spent the next hour cuddling his wife and new son, he phoned Helen, and his own mum, and had contacted Meredith, who was on shift, and said she would visit in her break. Owen was glad of the reprieve. He didn't want his little family of three disrupted by the other half of the twisted sisters, yet he knew that she wanted to see Cristina as much as Cristina wanted to see her. There had been a steady stream of visitors, only for a few minutes at a time, as the staff on the maternity ward had warned Owen that really he was the only person who was allowed to stay all day, and that all other visitors were required to stick to the regular visiting hours. Cristina had had a nap, which had given Owen some alone time with his little boy. "Hey," whispered Owen to the sleeping child, "I am your daddy, and I am so happy that you are here safe and sound. I've been waiting to meet you for such a long time." he placed a kiss on the baby's head. "I can't wait to teach you to play baseball, and soccer, and even if Mommy tells you that she does not like sports, if we bully her enough she will join in with us." Owen was chatting away, until a stifled laugh alerted him to the fact that Cristina was awake.

"Don't even think about ganging up on me, I am tough and I will not give in easily." laughed Cristina.

Cristina took a moment, taking in the sight of her men, and finally asked what they were going to call him. Cristina, looked at Owen, and said, "Owen you are the only one who knows what his name is, so perhaps you would like to tell us." she said, looking down at the baby. Owen smiled. "Are you sure that you want me to pick his name? I know that initially you asked me to, but that was only because you were confident that you were having a girl."

"I am absolutely certain, so please tell me what our son's name is." said a sleepy Cristina

"His name is Alexander George Hunt." announced Owen. "Hello Alexander," said Cristina. "You are perfect, and your name is perfect for you, but when you grow up, and evil spawn tells you that you were named after him, you can tell him that you were not."

Owen laughed, "Cristina, we all know that you are far fonder of Karev than you lead people to believe. It's a great name, and if Karev wants to think that we chose it because of him that should be fine. He is your friend, your closest male friend, so why wouldn't we name our baby boy after him. But in case he asks, Derek and Mark already have dibs on being his god fathers.

"Oh my god, what a legacy, first you name him after evil spawn and bambi, and then you give him McDreamy and the Manwhore as godfathers, and I always thought that I would be the parent the screwed up our kids." Cristina spoke seriously, but he look in her eyes made Owen know that she was teasing.

Owen was about to respond, when he saw Meredith get out of the lift at the end of the corridor.

"Meredith is here." advised Owen handing the baby to her.

As Meredith approached the door, she could see Owen inside with Cristina and for a split second hesitated about going in. All thoughts of turning round were gone, when Cristina waved at her through the glass panelled door. Taking a breath, Meredith smiled, and opened the door, walking inside.

"How are you doing?" asked Meredith.

"Tired, a bit sore, but sort of buzzing actually." replied Cristina. "Do you want to hold him?"

"Of course I do." Meredith took the baby from Cristina, and looked at him intently.

"He is absolutely beautiful; you did a great job Cristina." said Meredith.

Owen, had moved towards Cristina, and was now perched on the side of the hospital bed, with his arm around his wife. Cristina looked up at Owen on hearing Meredith's comment, and addressing him, said "Yes we did didn't we? We did an excellent job." Owen squeezed his wife's arm, in acknowledgement of her nice words, and when he looked up his eyes were met by a glacier like look from Meredith.

Meredith, ignoring Owens presence in the room, continued to ask Cristina about the birth, if there were any precautions she needed to take with the baby because of his lower birth weight, Meredith at this point handed the baby back to Cristina, and Owen, still seated on the bed held onto him with her. "I am going to go and give you two some time together." said Owen feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the atmosphere between himself and Meredith

"No Owen please don't go. Whatever has gone on between you two, Mer needs to understand how happy you make me. It needs to be over with whatever it is for my sake." said Cristina., her eyes furiously moving between her husband and her best friend.

"I was going to go and get a coffee sweetheart, I am not leaving the floor even." teased Owen

"I am tired, I need you here, so that when he asks us about who visited him on the day that he was born, and what they said, you will know, because I am too tired to remember. I need you to remember for him, because he won't remember, and neither will I." pleaded Cristina.

"Making new memories, that's what Dr Wyatt said I needed to do. Today I have a new memory, the memory of him being born, and the look on your face afterwards. Maybe I do need to remember the things like who visited him." Owen was really talking to himself, but Cristina didn't miss a word, and neither did Meredith, who's eyes were misting over, watching the exchange between her person and her person's guy. Wyatt was right thought Owen he needed to fill his head with good memories, not the images that haunted him, memories of his sons birth, first Christmas, and Hanukah of course, first tooth, first step, and first word. Cristina reached out to gently touch her husband's hand.

"Like I said to James, this is only the beginning, this is where we both start to gather a new set of memories as parents, and it needs to start now, as we mean to go on. If Meredith doesn't like being around you, she will have to suck it up for my sake," she said looking Meredith in the eye, "And you need to do the same Mr." Cristina finished with a smile, she didn't want the conversation to be a thing, not today, today was a happy day.

"Ok," said Meredith

"Let's make some new memories then." agreed Owen, as he started to make a mental note of all that was around him and the conversations going on.

Maybe in years to come, Owen would be able to tell Alexander, that the day he was born, was the day that Auntie Meredith had decided not to hate him any more, after all she thought Alexander was beautiful, and Owen had played his part, in creating that beautiful life.

The beginning.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this, apologies if I went off track on occasions, but the story sort of took on a life of its own, and at times I my inexperience of writing made it difficult for me to get the story to flow back to where I wanted it to be.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this, and especially those who left reviews. Much of the time I am a silent reader myself, so really value the comments left.


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